Jos Buttler says ‘two points the most important thing’ after remaining stranded on 97 in GT's victory over DC

Jos Buttler said winning the match for his team was more important than completing a milestone after starring in Gujarat Titans’ seven-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals with an unbeaten 97 off 54 balls in the Indian Premier League on Saturday. The English wicketkeeper-batter became the latest batter to remain stranded on 97 not out this season, joining Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer and Kolkata Knight Riders keeper-batter Quinton de Kock in the trend.

Buttler was adjudged the Player of the Match award for his match-winning knock in Ahmedabad, which comprised 11 fours and four sixes as well as for collecting a couple of catches behind the stumps, the second of which saw the former England white-ball captain dive to his right in an outstanding effort to dismiss Vipraj Nigam.

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A special knock in the chase ✅
🔝 of the table ✅#GT come up with a brilliant effort to seal the all-important 2️⃣ points

Updates ▶ https://t.co/skzhhRWvEt#TATAIPL | #GTvDC | @gujarat_titans pic.twitter.com/MZeRAEA2Xi

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 19, 2025

‘Two points is the most important thing’: Buttler

And as far as Buttler was concerned, steering his team to victory from a difficult position was all that mattered in the end. The 34-year-old had moved to 90 at the end of the 17th over and was on 96 at the end of the 18th, and had plenty of time to bring up the three-figure mark.

Buttler, however, allowed pinch-hitter Rahul Tewatia to hog the strike in the final over after Mitchell Starc got rid of the set Sherfane Rutherford in the penultimate delivery of the 19th over. Tewatia, who has starred in some of the IPL’s most memorable chases, took a single to retain the strike for the final over before finishing things off in style with a six and a four.

“Really pleased with the two points. It was a beautiful wicket to bat on, just wanted to try and take it deep, pick our moments to attack. We’ve built some nice partnerships along the way,” Buttler said during the post-match presentation ceremony.

“You want to win the game, I had my chances before that, two points is the most important thing. I told Rahul not to worry about my score, we got to win. Credit to him, he’s done that over the last few years where he can find the fence from ball one,” he added.

97 >>> 100

— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 19, 2025

Buttler also heaped praise on Rutherford, with whom he forged a crucial 119-run partnership for the third wicket that took the 2022 IPL champions within touching distance of the finish line. Buttler also stitched a 60-run stand with opener Sai Sudharsan to help GT recover after skipper Shubman Gill was run-out with just 14 on the board.

“I have enjoyed batting with him (Rutherford). He hits sixes out of nowhere. His sixes off Mohit changed the game and the momentum,” Buttler added.

Capitals were 10-15 runs short, feels captain Axar

Axar Patel, who suffered his second defeat in his maiden season as Delhi Capitals skipper, felt his team finished 10-15 runs short after they were invited to bat by Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.

“We were 10-15 runs short. When we tried to accelerate, we kept losing wickets. We couldn’t finish the way we wanted. We did bowl decently. Had we managed to create few more chances, things could have been closer. It was a matter of couple of hits. We won’t think much about this loss,” the spin-bowling all-rounder said after the game.

Gill praises GT bowlers for their fightback in death overs

Axar’s GT counterpart Gill agreed with his assessment, saying that he expected a target in the range of 220-230 and praised his bowlers for their fightback in the death overs. The Capitals were 173/4 at the end of the 17th over with plenty of wickets in hand, but lost wickets in a heap in the last three overs to finish on 204/8, with seamer Prasidh Krishna finishing with figures of 4/41.

“At one point, it looked like the total was going to be 220-230. The way we pulled back, credit to the bowlers. Even in the first game, chasing around 245, we were right in the game, lost by just 10 runs. We’ve been chasing well, we’ve been defending well. They were ahead in the game, with Axar batting, it was difficult to hit the fast bowlers, so we thought we’ll continue with them.

“Disappointing way to get out (run-out), but we’ve got plenty of games here and hopefully will get my chance. Magnificent the way Butter and Rutherford rotated strike and those hits were tremendous. It was not just brutal hitting, it was very calculated batting, it was a treat to watch. Very happy to get this win,” Gill said after the leading his team to their fifth win in seven outings, which took them to the top of the table.