Sangakkara told me to keep my shape while hitting shots, says Buttler

Buttler's masterful 124-run knock was followed by a spirited bowling performance as Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeated SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 55 runs here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.

New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals batsman Jos Buttler has revealed that team director Kumar Sangakkara had advised him to maintain his shape while hitting shots in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).

Buttler’s masterful 124-run knock was followed by a spirited bowling performance as Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeated SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 55 runs here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday. For RR, Chris Morris and Mustafizur Rahman scalped three wickets each. With this win, Rajasthan has moved to the fifth spot with 6 points from 7 games.

“I am feeling good, it was obviously nice to spend some time in the middle. It was nice to get few shots out of the middle of the bat. For some time, I felt like that I did not know which way to hold the bat really, it was a good win for us, happy to contribute. I thought that we are just one wicket down so I might just go for it. There was a nice messsage from Kumar Sangakkara as he told me to keep my shape. I was trying to swing hard for a while. Sanju Samson is a good guy to bat with, he is fun in the middle,” Buttler told teammate Chris Morris in a video posted on the website of IPL.

“I think the key to playing in Delhi is staying hydrated as it is quite hot here. Take on as much fluid as you can,” he added.

Earlier, Buttler and Sanju Samson starred with the bat as Rajasthan Royals posted a score of 220/3 in the allotted twenty overs. Buttler and Samson played knocks of 124 and 48 respectively for the Royals. Riyan Parag also played a useful cameo of 15 runs from eight balls.

For SRH, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, and Vijay Shankar returned with one wicket each.
Rajasthan Royals will next lock horns against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Wednesday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.