Rajasthan Royals (RR) continued to pay tribute to their ‘First Royal’ Shane Warne in fairytale fashion as they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by a 7-wicket margin to seal their spot in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 Finals at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Friday, May 27.
It’s the first time that RR have made it to the Finals of the tournament since Warne inspired them all the way to the title, 14 years back in the 2008 inaugural season of the IPL.
Prasidh Krishna (3/22) and Obed McCoy (3/23) bowled superbly to restrict RCB to just 157/8 after Sanju Samson won only his third toss of the tournament and invited Bangalore to bat.
Jos Buttler (106 not-out off 60 balls) then smacked 10 fours and 6 sixes en route to his fourth century of the season to fire Rajasthan into the Finals where they’ll have the opportunity to exact revenge on Gujarat Titans, who beat them in Qualifier 1.
Rajasthan’s run-chase got off to a quick start with Yashasvi Jaiswal hitting Mohammed Siraj for 2 sixes and a four in the first over. Buttler then jumped into the act as he thumped 2 fours and a six against Siraj off consecutive deliveries in the 3rd over.
Buttler was in belligerent mood in the powerplay with Shahbaz Ahmed his next victim as the RR opener smashed 2 sixes and a four off consecutive balls again in the 5th over.
The partnership was finally broken by Josh Hazlewood when he got Jaiswal (21 off 13 balls) caught at point in the 6th over as RR raced to 67/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Buttler meanwhile brought up a 23-ball fifty with a boundary against Harshal Patel in the 7th over, and together with Samson added 52 runs off 39 balls for the second wicket.
The RR opener was also handed a second-life during the partnership as Dinesh Karthik put down an opportunity behind the stumps after Buttler edged a delivery from Harshal while still batting on 66.
There was some reason to celebrate for RCB when Wanindu Hasaranaga (1/26) got Samson (23 off 21 balls) stumped in the 12th over to take the ‘Purple Cap’ away from Yuzvendra Chahal.
However, with Buttler still out in the middle the result never looked in doubt. Buttler even crossed the 800-run mark this season during his innings with a massive six against Hasaranga.
Hazlewood (2/23) who was RCB’s best bowler on the night, doubled his tally when he got Devdutt Padikkal (9 off 12 balls) caught behind in the 17th over. However, it was merely a consolation wicket with RR just 10 runs away from victory.
Buttler meanwhile celebrated in exuberant fashion as he brought up his century off 59 balls at the end of the 18th over and sealed the victory with a six on the very next delivery to book a date against Gujarat in the Finals.
Earlier at the Toss, Samson opted to bowl as both Rajasthan and Bangalore named unchanged Playing XIs. It ultimately proved to be a smart decision as the extra bounce just took the Bangalore batters by surprise.
Virat Kohli showed intent straightaway with a six against Trent Boult in the first over but was sent packing by Prasidh in the very next over. Kohli (7) poked at a pacy short delivery only to be done in by the extra bounce and get an edge back to the keeper.
RCB’s centurion from the last game, Rajat Patildar walked out and immediately got going with a flurry of boundaries in the powerplay. Faf du Plessis also kept up the pace from the other end as RCB posted 46/1 in the powerplay.
Together, du Plessis and Patildar added 70 runs off 53 balls before the pair were separated by Obed McCoy in the 11th over. McCoy struck with another short ball which du Plessis (25 off 27 balls) looked to cut but only got a thick edge to short third man.
Boult (1/28) then struck with the final ball of his spell as Glenn Maxwell (24 off 13 balls) pulled a short delivery straight to fine leg where McCoy took a spectacular diving catch.
Patildar meanwhile brought up a 40-ball half-century with a six against Yuzvendra Chahal (0/45) in the 14th over. But, Chahal’s spin-twin, Ravichandran Ashwin (1/31) struck in the very next over to get Patildar (58 off 42 balls) caught at long-off just as the RCB batter was looking to up the ante.
McCoy then got rid of Mahipal Lomror (8) in the 18th over and Prasidh struck twice in as many deliveries as he got Dinesh Karthik (6) caught out on the 1st delivery of the 19th over before castling Hasaranga (0) with a lethal pinpoint yorker.
McCoy bowled Harshal (1) in the final over while giving away just 3 runs as RCB limped to a mediocre total of just 157/8.
