IPL 2021: Sunrisers Hyderabad bow down in front of Jos Buttler & Rajasthan Royals

Jos Buttler was the main architect of the win, as the Rajasthan Royals batsman played a match defining knock of 124 from 64 deliveries, helping his side pile a gigantic 220/3 on the board against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Sunrisers Hyderabad spinner Rashid Khan congratulates Jos Buttler. (IPL)

There was no change in fortune for bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad as they endured a crushing 55-run defeat against Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. 

Jos Buttler was the main architect of the win, as the England and Royals batsman played a match defining knock of 124 from 64 deliveries, helping his side pile a gigantic 220/3 on the board. This was also Buttler's first ton in the lucrative T20 league, making him fourth England cricketer to reach the three-figure mark in the history of tournament.   

In response, SRH could only manage 165/8 in their 20 overs, with Manish Pandey's 20-ball 31 being the highest individual score among the SRH batters. 

All Over: Riding on a dominant batting show, @rajasthanroyals register a comfortable 55-run victory against #SRH. They pick up 2 points and also improve their NRR. https://t.co/7vPWWkMqQ2 #RRvSRH #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/9KGITuwByd — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 2, 2021

After a string of defeats in the ongoing campaign, the team on Saturday appointed Kane Williamson as their new skipper, replacing David Warner, who also was not included in the Playing XI for Sunday's clash. SRH's wait for the elusive win got extended and the franchise would hope for a better show in their next outing against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, after being put to bat first, Rajasthan got off to a slow start, losing young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal cheaply on 12 off 13 balls. However, this didn't affect the Royals as Buttler combined with skipper Sanju Samson to completely sweep the game away from SRH. 

The pair added 150-runs for the third wicket, which also was the second-highest third-wicket partnership by a Royals pair. Samson was dismissed by Vjay Shankar in the 17th over on 48 off 33 balls.  

Buttler, on the other hand, started off his innings on a slow note and managed to add just 33 in the first 35 deliveries he faced. However, after switching gears, Buttler went into an unstoppable mode and fired 89 runs in the other 29 balls of his innings. The right-handed batsman smashed a total of 11 fours and eight sixes. 

In response SRH got off to a good start with Jonny Bairstow pairing up with Manish Pandey in the absence of Warner. The pair added 57 for the opening wicket, before Pandey was cleaned up by Mustafizur Rahman on 31 off 20 balls. 

Soon after his dismissal, Bairstow was also removed from the middle on 30(21), as SRH kept losing wickets at regular intervals. 

Mustafizur and Chris Morris scalped three wickets each as RR closed the contest with an emphatic win.