New Delhi [India], April 17 : The cricket fraternity hailed Jos Buttler for his record-topping century against the Kolkata Knight Riders, which guided the Rajasthan Royals to a two-wicket win in the ongoing Indian Premier League at the iconic Eden Gardens.
Buttler, who struggled in the first couple of games in the IPL, managed to tap into his rich vein of form and produce a masterclass with the bat.
While chasing a massive total of 224, the 33-year-old opening batter kept RR's hopes alive even when the team needed 79 runs in the final five overs.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan labelled Buttler's knocks as "surely one of the greatest ever T20 innings .. absolutely incredible @josbuttler."
https://x.com/MichaelVaughan/status/1780297183318749420
England's current Test skipper, Ben Stokes, hailed Buttler and his ability to read the game.
"Genuinely would have been more surprised if @josbuttler didn't finish that game off when Powell got out, that's how good the man is..his ability to read game situations and take emotion out of it is what sets him apart," Stokes wrote on X.
https://x.com/benstokes38/status/1780297799151620255
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan lavished praise on the England star and wrote on X, "RR ka Jos high hai boss. Mind blowing inning from Jos Buttler"
https://x.com/IrfanPathan/status/1780297157326610685
His blitz with the bat marked Buttler's seventh IPL century and he became the second-highest hundred scorer in the competition's history. His tally is only bettered by Virat Kohli's eight centuries.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Chris Gayle is in the third spot, with six centuries to his name. KL Rahul, David Warner and Shane Watson have four centuries each to their names in the IPL.
Buttler has three hundreds while chasing in the IPL, which is the most for any batter. Kohli and Ben Stokes are the only other batters who have struck multiple hundreds while chasing in the competition.
Overall, this marked the 8th T20 century for Buttler, and he became the player with the most hundreds from England in this format. He surpassed Luke Wright's tally of seven. All of his eight T20 hundreds have come in the past three years.
After completing a two-wicket win over KKR, the Royals hold their position at the top with 12 points in seven matches with a net run rate of 0.677.
RR will face the five-time champion Mumbai Indians on Monday at the Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium, Jaipur.