Absolutely delighted to have finally hit the mark in IPL 10: Jos Buttler 

MUMBAI INDIANS batsman Jos Buttler expressed his delight after smashing a quick-fire 77 off 37 balls on route to his side’s 199 run-chase against Kings XI Punjab. 

Courtesy of Buttler’s partnership with Parthiv Patel, MI were off to a flying start in the second innings. The duo built 81 runs in the Powerplay overs, to set a tone for the rest of the game. In an interaction with IPLT20.com, the English opener divulged,

“I had a fantastic time batting. I have found good form so far in the tournament, but hadn’t really kicked on and made a big contribution. So [I’m] delighted to really go on and make that good score. It was a fantastic wicket, a small ground and so I’m delighted to go on. It was very close actually to my natural way of batting. It is nice actually when the opposition scores big; you know you have only one way to take the game on. Today from the outset I was really looking to play my shots and kick on so that’s a very natural way of batting — see ball, hit ball.”

Speaking about his partnership with Parthiv Patel, Buttler said that the former’s style of play compliments him perfectly well. 

“We both played our natural games. We complement each other well. He is a short left-hander; he looks to sit back and play square of the wicket and complements me with a different style at the other end. It is great fun to bat with a very calm guy. It is great that we managed to put a big partnership.”

Speaking about his side’s strategy during the massive run-chase, the 26-year-old said,

“After the start that we got, we obviously got to a manageable task to score from there on; we probably needed 8 runs per over for 14 or 15 overs. We knew that we could keep going because we had lots of batters to come. So we thought (the) run rate does come into it at some point in the tournament, and tonight to really kick on and try and win the game in less than 20 overs was really important.”

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