Jos Buttler scored 97 not out off 54 balls to power Gujarat Titans to a seven-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals to move atop the Indian Premier League table on Saturday.
Buttler hit 11 fours and four sixes as Gujarat chased down Capitals’ 203-8 with four balls to spare at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Sherfane Rutherford (43) shared a 119-run partnership with Butter off 69 balls for the third wicket as their century stand took Gujarat to 204-3 in 19.2 overs.
Delhi Capitals’ skipper Axar Patel top-scored with 39 off 32 balls after they were inserted by the opposition.
The win lifted the Titans to the top of the IPL table with 10 points as Delhi slid down to second, also on 10 but with a lower run-rate.
Chasing a formidable score, Gujarat lost skipper Shubman Gill (7) early on after he was run out with a direct hit from off-spinner Karun Nair.
This brought Buttler to the crease, who powered to 60 off 35 balls alongside Sai Sudharsan (36) for the second wicket before the latter was caught by Kuldeep Yadav in the eighth over with Gujarat comfortably on 74-2 at that stage.
Buttler then picked up the scoring pace when he was joined by Rutherford as the pair shared the highest third-wicket partnership for Gujarat in IPL history.
Rutherford was out caught in the penultimate over off Mukesh Kumar, leaving 10 needed off the last six deliveries.
Rahul Tewatia (11no) smashed a six and a four off two balls from Mitchell Starc (0-49) to leave Buttler stranded at the other end.
Earlier, Delhi were able to put on a sizable score despite lacking a match-winning contribution, with Abhishel Porel (18) out early while his opening partner Nair managed 31.
Delhi kept losing wickets at regular intervals, as pacer Prasidh Krishna (4-41) claimed a four-fer.
The big moment came when Krishna trapped Lokesh Rahul (28) leg-before in the fifth over as Delhi lost a wicket every time they put on a partnership.
Axar and Tristan Stubbs (31) put on the innings’ best stand – 53 off 36 balls – but another timely dismissal left them in the lurch before Ashutosh Sharma’s cameo – 37 off 19 balls with three sixes – allowed Delhi to cross the 200 mark.
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