Jos Buttler (106th out of 60) scores the fourth ton of the IPL season, equaling Virat Kohli’s record from 2016, when Rajasthan Royals beat Royal Challengers Bangalore to qualify for the first IPL final since 2008 – watch the title match live on Sky Sports Cricket from 2.50pm on Sunday
Jos Buttler fired a record-equaling fourth century in an IPL season to lead Rajasthan Royals to their first final since winning the inaugural edition of the competition in 2008 under the late Shane Warne.
Buttler’s 60-ball 106 no against Royal Challengers Bangalore, in which he hit all six game winners, has seen him equal Virat Kohli’s record of four IPL tons in a single edition, set in 2016.
The 31-year-old’s strike was his eighth score over fifty in 16 innings in this year’s competition, and his second in as many matches after his 56-ball 89 against Gujarat Titans in Tuesday’s first playoff.
The Englishman will face the Titans again in Sunday’s title match in Ahmedabad with his strike helping Rajasthan chase the RCB total of 157-8 with 11 balls to spare – Buttler hitting Harshal Patel in the stands to make it a seven wicket win.
Buttler now has the third-highest number of runs by any batsman in an IPL season, with his haul of 824 behind only Kohli’s 973 for RCB and David Warner’s 848 for Sunrisers Hyderabad, both in 2016.
He hit fifty from 23 balls and three figures from 59 and racked up six sixes and 10 fours, but would have been sacked at 66 had RCB goalkeeper Dinesh Karthik not spilled a fairly regulation outside edge.
Buttler has returned to form in style this week, having gone five innings without going over 30 after scoring over six fifty earlier in the tournament, including centuries against Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.
Rajasthan has worked through the IPL in recent years, finishing bottom of the league table in 2020 and second place in 2019 and 2021.
But now they are one win away from a second IPL crown, 14 years after claiming their first when Warne, who passed away at the age of 52 earlier this year, was coach and captain.
RCB’s wait for an inaugural trophy continues, with the runners-up from 2009, 2011 and 2016 eliminated in the play-offs for the third consecutive year.
Rajat Patidar impressed again for RCB with a 42-ball 58, two days after scoring a 49-ball century in the knockout win over Lucknow Super Giants.
Patidar’s tackle came to an end thanks to an excellent catch from Buttler: the Englishman fumbled the ball before losing his balance at the boundary, then pocketed it again when he regained his balance.
Buttler’s best was yet to come and now he has a chance to take the record hundred against Gujarat this weekend.
Watch the IPL final between Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans live on Sky Sports Cricket from 2:50pm on Sunday.
