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Rajasthan Royals' (RR) Jos Buttler took an excellent diving catch to dismiss Punjab Kings (PBKS) opener Prabhsimran Singh during the eighth IPL 2023 game at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday, April 5.
Asked to bat first by the Rajasthan Royals (RR), PBKS made a prolific star, courtesy of Prabhsimran's pyrotechnics. While skipper Shikhar Dhawan adopted a slow and steady approach, the young Punjab opener fired all cylinders, taking on the likes of Trent Boult, KM Asif, and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Just when it looked like Prabhsimran would take the game away from RR, Buttler produced a spectacular effort to cut short the youngster's stay in the middle.
The PBKS batter tried to hit a short-pitched delivery from Jason Holder over the bowler's head. Instead, he sliced it and the ball went up in the sky. Buttler covered some good distance and then put on a full-length dive to complete a superb catch.
Watch the clip here:
However, by then, the damage was already done as Prabhsimran hammered 60 off just 34 deliveries, a knock studded with seven boundaries and three sixes. This was also his first half-century in the IPL.
At the time of writing, the Kings were 134/1 in 13.4 overs, with Dhawan also making a move now along with wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma.
Jos Buttler begins his IPL 2023 campaign with a half-century
Rajasthan Royals opener Jos Buttler won the Orange Cup last year, scoring 863 runs in 17 matches at an average of 57.53 and a strike rate of close to 150, including four centuries and as many fifties.
He began his IPL 2023 campaign exactly from where he left off last year, smashing a swashbuckling fifty against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). Riding on his 22-ball 54, Rajasthan posted 203/5, which was enough to seal a 72-run win.
Buttler will hope to continue the good work with the bat as RR are likely to chase a big total against PBKS.
