Jos Buttler smashed an unbeaten 107 to trump Sunil Narine’s first T20 century as Rajasthan Royals (RR) pulled off the joint record Indian Premier League (IPL) chase against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) that too off the final ball at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Rajasthan equalled their own record from 2020 when they chased down 224 against Kings XI Punjab in Sharjah.
Even as Buttler turned hero with the bat, it was Rovman Powell with his 13-ball 26 that turned the game for the men in pink.
“In T20 cricket, a lot of people don’t get credit for playing impactful innings. A lot of technology is there that gives data to innings that guys play, but not a lot of data and technology is there to pick up the impact, a 20 off 10 or a 30 off 15,” Powell said at the post-match press conference.
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With back-to-back wickets and Buttler failing to tee off, Rovman walked in. The required run rate had jumped considerably from what it was for RR and the West Indies T20I captain took charge.
“I started by trying to take down Sunil as their main bowler and give the guys the belief that if Sunil can go for runs, then anybody can go for runs. And that fuelled right through the group,” Powell said.
Powell put up 57 runs crucial runs with Buttler for the seventh wicket but his three sixes had handed the momentum to RR. He said that his communication with his partner was clear.
“I was there with Jos and I told him ‘Just relax. I will try to hit a few sixes’ because he was trying to hit the ball but wasn’t connecting. So, I tried to hit the sixes and if I got out, ‘you would take on’ the mantle of trying to score those big sixes,” Powell said.
Whispering in His Ears
After his whirlwind maiden hundred, Narine was still adamant about watching the T20 World Cup later this year from home.
“It is what it is but we will have to see what the future holds,” Narine had said at the mid-innings break.
When Rovman was asked about the star all-rounder playing at the ‘home’ T20 World Cup, he said: “For the last 12 months, I’ve been whispering in his (Narine’s) ears, but he’s blocked out everyone,” Powell said when asked about trying to convince Narine to reverse his decision. “I’ve asked [Kieron] Pollard, [Dwayne] Bravo, [Nicholas] Pooran. Hopefully, before they select the team, they can crack his code.”
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