Joe Root was out lbw for 10 during his first innings in the IPL and Jos Buttler fell for a duck as Rajasthan Royals were razed for 59 by Royal Challengers Bangalore during a crushing 112-run defeat.
England star Root had been selected for Royals’ previous two matches but was not required to bat, with Buttler hitting 95 in a total of 214-2 against Sunrisers Hyderabad before Rajasthan thumped Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets despite Buttler being run out without scoring.
Buttler bagged back-to-back noughts after chipping RCB seamer Wayne Parnell to cover-point on Sunday with Root then entering at 6-2 in an innings in which Rajasthan tumbled to 7-3 and 31-6 before being dismissed in 10.3 overs as they flopped trying to overhaul their opponents’ 171-5 in Jaipur.
Joe Root scored 10 from 15 balls in his debut IPL innings for Rajasthan Royals
Root successfully overturned an lbw dismissal on one before ramping a boundary over short fine leg next ball, but his knock was ended on the 15th delivery, trapped leg before by Parnell’s dipping slower ball.
He was still Royals’ second top-scorer, behind Shimron Hetmyer (35 off 19), with that pair the only players to reach double figures during a dismal reply.
Root is coming towards the end of his maiden IPL stint and will return home later this month ahead of England’s Test summer.
England’s Test summer starts against Ireland at Lord’s on June 1 with the Ashes under way at Edgbaston from June 16
That begins with a four-day match against Ireland at Lord’s from June 1 before the Ashes series gets under way at Edgbaston on June 16.
England have a few injury concerns in the bowling department with Jofra Archer (elbow) returning home from his IPL spell with Mumbai Indians and Olly Stone (hamstring) set to miss at least the first Ashes Test.
James Anderson is also dealing with what was described as a ‘minor issue’ by Lancashire and has not bowled since the opening day in his team’s County Championship fixture at home to Somerset.
Watch the IPL and all of England’s summer internationals live on Sky Sports Cricket.
