Tewatia speaks of the conversation he had with Buttler before the last over that saw him face Mitchell Starc.
Tewatia said that Buttler told him not to think about his hundred as he took strike on the last over with 10 needed to win.
Rahul Tewatia had a significant role in the IPL 2025, but it is easy to overlook that the Gujarat Titans (GT) top order has been so successful this season. He really played in all three of GT’s prior games and had a significant 24 not out off 12 against the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
With GT needing 11 runs from 7 balls against the Delhi Capitals (DC) in Ahmedabad on Saturday and Mitchell Starc bowling six of those balls, Tewatia entered the game at number five. Starc bowled DC to victory in a Super Over just a game ago after successfully defending 8 in the last over against RR with a flurry of reverse-swinging yorkers.
With Jos Buttler on 97 off 54 balls at the other end, Tewatia took a single off his opening ball, which was the final ball of the 19th over, and then slog swept Starc over midwicket for six and got an inside edge between his legs for four to finish the chase of 204 with seven wickets remaining and four balls remaining.
“It was not as if I expected him to bowl just yorkers,” Tewatia said after sealing the win that took GT to the top of the points table with five wins in seven games. “But the way he bowled yorkers in the last match and defended nine [eight], I expected him to back his yorkers. My aim was to see the ball and hit, whether he bowled length or yorker.”
Tewatia, who had only batted alongside Buttler once before, for RR in the IPL 2020, claimed that Buttler had encouraged him to go for his shots in the final over rather than considering giving the strike to the set batter.
“He told me just one thing when we needed 10 off the last over – don’t look at my hundred. He told me ‘I know you are very clear in your mind – so just execute your plan and not at my hundred, just look at winning the game’.”
On a hot afternoon in Ahmedabad, GT had won the toss, and all of the DC batsmen got off to quick starts, keeping them on track for a score of 220 or more. They were 105 for 3 after 10 overs and 163 for 4 after 16, but lost 40 for 4 at the end to finish at 203 for 8, a response that GT captain Shubman Gill praised.
“The way we pulled back in the game at one point it was like the total is going to be around 220-230,” Gill said. “But in the last overs the way we pulled back in the game, credit to the bowlers for that. Before this match we talked about [having] back-to-back games tonight and then the day after tomorrow at Eden [Gardens against Kolkata Knight Riders]. These two games, we thought, would decide where we will stand in the points table and we are very happy to get this one.”