The Buttler bash that took a while coming
Jos Buttler smashed 77 off 37 balls as Mumbai Indians gunned down 199 and sealed their highest successful IPL chase
Deivarayan Muthu
20-Apr-2017
Star turn
On most nights, a Hashim Amla hundred and a total of 198 would have been enough - or more than enough - for a T20 team to win. But this was Jos Buttler's night. His 77 off 37 balls made such a mockery of the target that by the time he fell at the start of the 14th over, the asking rate had dropped to four.
Buttler has opened in each of his six innings this IPL season, but until Thursday, he had only made 108 runs at a strike-rate of 133. Those numbers were prime fodder for those demanding Rohit Sharma to slot back in at the top of the order. But Mumbai have shown a lot more patience with their players this season, and considering Buttler was twice given out incorrectly, he has deserved the leeway.
Buttler's carnage began in the very first over with a six over square leg and, as he kept peppering the boundary, Mumbai amassed their highest score in the Powerplay - 82 for 1. From there, victory was almost academic.
The wow moment
Ishant Sharma bowled a full ball outside off, and Buttler cracked it fiercely to extra cover. The ball was flying rapidly towards David Miller's head and though he threw his hands up in an effort to catch it, the ball burst through his hands and clattered away to the boundary.
The numbers
- Buttler smashed 32 off his 77 runs through the covers at a strike-rate of 266.
- This was Buttler's highest score in T20 cricket. It was also his first fifty in 20 innings across formats, since his 76 in the first innings of the Mumbai Test last year.
- The 199 Mumbai made in 15.3 overs was their highest successful chase in the IPL, beating the 190 they made in 14.4 overs against Rajasthan Royals in 2014.
What they said
"Today chasing that kind of total was good for me to go on from ball one and not think too much about it with the field in. I've put a lot of pressure on myself, trying too hard to score the runs in the last few games. With a big score you can just go for your shots which is what happened today. I just tried to stay still and the shots came off."
Jos Buttler on his mindset
Jos Buttler on his mindset
"No question. Jos Butler is a Freak. "
Michael Vaughan, on Twitter
Michael Vaughan, on Twitter
"Nobody has flat-batted 6s as ferociously as Jos Buttler in the history of cricket."
Piers Morgan, on Twitter
Piers Morgan, on Twitter
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo