Rajasthan Royals (RR) poked fun at pacer Avesh Khan for his batting in the IPL 2024 match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Tuesday.Avesh didn’t face a single ball and remained unbeaten on zero as Jos Buttler single-handedly won the game for RR. Chasing 224 for victory, Rajasthan looked in trouble at 121-6 in the 13th over at the Eden Gardens. However, Buttler hit an unbeaten 107 off just 60 balls to help RR achieve the target on the final ball. He scored all the runs during the unbeaten ninth wicket stand with Avesh, who was a mere spectator at the other end.
While the cricket fraternity was busy hailing Buttler for his match-winning knock, RR decided to have some fun with Avesh, labelling him a “finisher”.
Finisher saahab pic.twitter.com/JI2TbDBCx0
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 16, 2024
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Avesh’s former franchise, also joined RR to troll the pacer, reminding fans about his scoreless cameo for them during an IPL 2024 game against RCB last year.
2023: 0*(1)
2024: 0*(0)Avesh the Finisher pic.twitter.com/O1Nmd1IiNP
— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) April 16, 2024
Meanwhile, RR pulled off the joint-biggest successful chase in the history of the IPL to beat KKR on Tuesday.
The Sanju Samson-led side emulated their own record from IPL 2020 when they chased down 224 against Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) in Sharjah.
Buttler had missed the last game due to injury, and only featured against KKR as an impact sub.
However, the England white-ball captain was unfazed, scoring his second century of the season in 55 balls.
“Keep believing, that was the real key today. I was struggling a bit for rhythm. At times you feel frustrated or you are questioning yourself. I tell myself ‘It’s okay, keep going, you’ll get your rhythm back and try to stay calm’. There’s been plenty of times throughout the IPL, you’ve seen crazy things happen. Guys like (M.S.) Dhoni and (Virat) Kohli, the way they stay till the end and keep believing and I tried to do the same,” Buttler said after the match.
Buttler now sits second in the all-time list of centurions in IPL, with RCB icon Virat Kohli (8) only one ton ahead of him.
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