England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler found form at the Indian Premier League before winning the match for Gujarat Titans with a final-ball run-out in a remarkable one-run victory over Delhi Capitals.
Buttler, who had gone 18 innings without a fifty including his difficult run at the T20 World Cup, looked closer to his best form in hitting 52 from 27 balls in Gujarat’s 210-4.
He struck five sixes, including one trademark scoop and a towering six over long-on, before being dismissed in the eighth over.
But his influence was not done there as he ran out Kuldeep Yadav – throwing down the stumps with an underarm effort from his position as keeper – as the India spinner and David Miller tried to scamper a single from the final ball with two runs needed.
South Africa international Miller had hit two sixes and two fours in the 19th over before clearing the ropes again in the last, only to turn down a single with two balls to go and then miss seamer Prasidh Krishna’s bouncer to finish.
A crestfallen Miller finished 41 not out from 20 balls while opener KL Rahul made 92.
“Amazing,” Buttler said. “Great to get the win. It was a very lucky throw but I am delighted.
“We desperately needed a win and I am glad we manage to sneak through.”
Buttler’s fifty was his first across formats since a 97 not out in the SA20 in early January.
He averaged 10.9 across eight matches at the T20 World Cup and made 38 from 33 balls and a 14-ball 26 in his previous innings at this year’s IPL.
Here his first runs came with a six over long-on and he followed by hitting India spinner Axar Patel for four over extra cover and another six over long-on.
He then scooped and drove seamer Mukesh Kumar as Gujarat took 63 from the first five overs. India Test captain Shubman Gill also hit 70 from 45 balls and all-rounder Washington Sundar 55 from 32.
“I have been searching for [runs] a little but felt in good touch since I have been here,” Buttler said.
“I have played long enough to know that it will come back at some point.”
The former England captain was bowled by a ball from Kuldeep which skidded low, but the knock was an encouraging return for one of England’s greatest white-ball players, whose place in the national side came under scrutiny during the World Cup.
His tournament included a run of five single-figure scores but England stuck with him throughout their run to the semi-finals.
After the IPL, Buttler will play in the T20 Blast for Lancashire before England’s first white-ball matches of the summer against India in July.
England’s focus switches to the 50-over format this summer with the next World Cup the one-day international edition in the autumn of 2027.
Buttler has not scored a 50-over fifty since February 2023. He averaged 17.9 over 30 international innings across formats this winter.