Jos Buttler smashes third hundred of 2022 IPL as Rajasthan Royals win to top the table

Jos Buttler cracked a second-straight IPL hundred, and a third of the 2022 tournament, as he smashed 116 off 65 balls for the Rajasthan Royals in their win over the Delhi Capitals that takes them to the top of the table.

Buttler blasted a massive nine sixes and as many fours in his stunning knock as Rajasthan posted an imposing score of 222-2 after being put in to bat first.

Delhi looked in contention for long periods of their chase, none more so than when their swashbuckling skipper Rishabh Pant was at the crease, firing 44 from 24 balls, while David Warner also smacked 28 from 14 at the top of the order.

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Just as the game began to slip away from the Capitals, West Indies' Rovman Powell (36 off 15 balls) came in and smashed five sixes, including three in a row to start the final over which briefly gave hope to him successfully hitting the six sixes (and 36 runs) required for victory.

But it was not to be as his international team-mate Obed McCoy bowled a dot ball fourth up and claimed Powell's wicket to finish and clinch a 15-run for Rajasthan.

Earlier, Devdutt Padikkal also tonked 54 off 35 balls for the Royals, sharing in a 155-run opening stand with Buttler, while skipper Sanju Samson fired an unbeaten 46 off 19 deliveries.

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Samson should, however, have been dropped on 28 when top-edging an attempted pull off Khaleel Ahmed, only for the bowler to drop an absolute sitter.

But it was Buttler's heroics with the bat that once again stole the show, with the England star the leading run-scorer in the 2022 IPL, with 491 runs.

Buttler's tally is 226 more than KL Rahul in second spot, with three hundreds and two fifties scored across his seven innings - at an average of 81.83 and a massive 161.51 strike rate.

Rajasthan's victory sees them leapfrog Gujarat Titans at the top of the table, albeit having played a game more. Delhi sit sixth, suffering a fourth defeat from their opening seven games.