By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@IPL.
England’s Jos Buttler struck his second successive half-century in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to guide Gujarat Titans (GT) to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Sunday.
Buttler added 84 for the second wicket with captain Shubman Gill to set the foundation for Gujarat’s comfortable chase of 165 with eight balls to spare.
The pair fell in consecutive overs with Gill making 56 and Buttler scoring 60 from 37 balls to give Lucknow’s bowlers a glimmer of hope, but all-rounder Washington Sundar’s unbeaten 21 from 13 helped Gujarat over the line.
Gill and Buttler’s partnership proved the difference as eight of Lucknow’s batters reached double figures but opener Aiden Markram’s 30 was their highest contribution.
They were undone by a masterful spell of seam bowling from Prasidh Krishna, who claimed 4-28 to become the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 10 scalps in four games.
Buttler had gone 18 innings without a fifty before last week’s 52 against Delhi Capitals, and his form has helped Gujarat to back-to-back wins after they lost their first two games.
“I had a bit of a lean patch over the past few months so it’s nice to be contributing to wins,” said Buttler.
“A little bit of space from the game has been helpful, a few technical issues crept in to my game so this has allowed me to go back to basics.”
Both teams have now won two and lost two of their four matches and remain in fifth and sixth place on the log with four points, four behind leaders Rajasthan Royals and three behind second-placed Punjab Kings.
Meanwhile Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli blasted half-centuries as the defending champions beat Mumbai Indians (MI) by 18 runs in an Indian Premier League match.