Rajasthan Royals’ campaign in the IPL 2023 suffered a setback as their star batsman Jos Buttler injured his finger in the match against Punjab Kings and may not be available for their upcoming fixture against Delhi Capitals. Buttler hurt his left little finger while fielding and had to undergo multiple stitches, which prevented him from opening the innings in the last game.
In Buttler’s absence, RR sent Ravichandran Ashwin to open the batting, but the experiment backfired as Ashwin got out cheaply in the fourth over. Buttler then came at number three and played some aggressive shots, including a boundary and a six, before being dismissed by Nathan Ellis in the last over of the powerplay.
Although Buttler was named the best catch of the game, his injury could rule him out of RR’s next match, as per a report from The Times of India. The franchise management may not want to risk the Englishman’s fitness by playing him within 72 hours of his injury and may opt to rest him for a game or two.
Meanwhile, Punjab Kings continued their winning streak in the tournament by defeating RR by five runs in a thrilling encounter. The PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan played a captain’s knock and scored 75 runs, while Ellis picked up four wickets to derail RR’s chase of 198 runs.
Despite the victory, Dhawan acknowledged that there were some tense moments in the game, especially when Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer were batting aggressively towards the end. However, he praised his bowlers for executing their plans well and restricting RR to 192/6 in 20 overs.
“Scoring 197 and then my bowlers coming and getting early wickets and keeping the pressure on and then Nathan came on and got wickets. We never let the game get out of our hands. There were some moments that were hard but I think it was a great team effort,” Dhawan said after the match.
The win took PBKS to the top of the points table with four wins in five games, while RR slipped to the fifth spot with two wins and three losses. The two teams will next face off on April 10 in Mumbai, where RR will hope to have Buttler fit and firing again.
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