Jos Buttler was at his belligerent best and the Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling bore the brunt of it on Friday evening as the Rajasthan Royals stormed into the IPL 2022 Final, winning Qualifier 2 by 7 wickets. RR completed the 158-run chase in the 19th over with Buttler hitting the winning runs and finishing unbeaten on 106.
Apart from Buttler’s century, bowlers Prasidh Krishna and Obed McCoy picked three wickets each to derail the RCB batting in the first innings. Buttler has scored 4 centuries this season, the same as Virat Kohli in 2016, while both have 5 tons in all of IPL history.
The win means Rajasthan Royals, who were the inaugural champions of the tournament, will take one the Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans on Sunday in Ahmedabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
This will be Rajasthan's first final since 2008 when they were captained by the late Shane Warne.
McCoy, Krishna Restrict RCB Batting
Batting first, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis took strike for RCB and Trent Boult opened the bowling. Both the batters got off the mark with a single, before Kohli whipped Boult over square-leg for a six to end the first over.
RR had Prasidh Krishna sharing the new ball with Boult. The young Indian pacer had a telling impact first up, as he dismissed Kohli for 7, caught behind by Sanju Samson of the outside edge.
Boult bowled a brilliant third over after that, giving away just 4 runs as RCB found it tough to get going early on. The batters slowly started to pick up the pace in the second half of the powerplay and ended the phase with the score on 46/1.
Patidar and Faf kept up the momentum, getting a big hit in almost every over after the powerplay. Both had settled in and got starts, and now needed to make it count. The duo put on 70 together before Faf looked to go over extra-cover off Obed McCoy and the edge was acrobatically caught at short third man by R Ashwin in the 11th over.
In came Glenn Maxwell and looked to take over the aggressor's role from Patidar. The Australian started off well against the spinners, with Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal going wicketless to start with.
RR turned to Boult after that and he tied up Maxwell, before a change of pace and a brilliant forward diving catch at fine leg by McCoy ended the Australian's stay. Maxwell was gone for 24 and RCB had a task on hand.
In the 15th over, Mahipal Lomror fed the strike to Patidar, who ended it with a six to get to his half-century off Chahal, who had one over to go. Patidar looked to go through the gears after that but Ashwin had his number, thanks to a superbly judged catch in the deep. Patidar was gone for 58 as RCB desperately needed to get a move on.
Chahal finished wicketless on the day but kept it tight in the 17th as Dinesh Karthik and Lomror tried to go through the gears. McCoy came back into the attack after that and Lomror was dismissed for 8, caught looking to accelerate. Shahbaz finished the over with a boundary with DK at the other end for company.
Shahbaz tried to add a few lusty blows and managed to tonk Krishna for a six too. Krishna finished with figures of 3/22. McCoy wrapped things up with the wicket of Harshal Patel as RCB finished with 157/8, much lesser than what it seemed like they'd get initially.
Buttler Takes Charge in Chase
In response, the Rajasthan Royals openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler started off firing on all cylinders. Jaiswal hammered Mohammed Siraj’s first over for 16, setting the tone, after which Buttler put the foot on the accelerator.
The duo were scoring at well over 10 runs an over and made full use of the powerplay with a 61-run stand in 5 overs. Jaiswal though was dismissed for 21 off 13 balls, when he looked to play Josh Hazlewood away through the covers but was caught by Virat Kohli. Buttler at the other end was nearing a fifty by the end of the powerplay.
In the seventh over, Buttler completed his fifty with a crisp drive through the covers, getting there in 23 balls. After 8 overs, the Royals were 81/1 and looking well on course for their first final after winning the IPL in 2008.
It seemed like Buttler was in a big hurry to finish things off and Shahbaz came back into the attack in the 9th over, and was taken for 16 runs. Buttler and Samson both going for it as the finish line came closer.
The next over by Hasaranga was a quiet one surprisingly, as RR got only 6 runs, and then DK dropped Buttler at the starting of the 11th over bowled by Harshal Patel. To make matters worse, Samson and Buttler made the over a 9-run one.
Hasaranga though bounced back in the next over with the wicket of Samson for 23, but it may have been a little too late in the day. RR ended the over with just 2 runs from it with Hasaranga's figures reading 1/12 in 3 overs.
Hazlewood, another one who had bowled well for RCB on the day, kept it tight in the next over too, as the Royals slowed down with victory in sight. However, after what seemed like a breather, Buttler was on the attack again, clobbering Hasaranga for a couple of sixes in his fourth over.
Hazlewood then managed to knock over Devdutt Padikkal for 9, before Buttler completed his fourth century of the season and then wrapped up the win with a monster six off the first ball off the 19th over. Buttler finished unbeaten on 106, having hit 10 fours and 6 sixes. The Englishman's quick start had knocked the stuffing out of the RCB bowling and they eventually eased over the line with 7 wickets in hand.
TOSS
Sanju Samson won the toss for Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 against Royal Challengers Bangalore and opted to bowl first at Ahmedabad in the Narendra Modi Stadium. The winner of the game plays Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2022 final on Sunday.
Rajasthan have not made any changes in the playing XI and neither have Bangalore.
“We will bowl first. The wicket is a bit sticky and hopefully it will help our bowlers first-up. Yesterday we had a good practice session. Everyone is happy and excited for the game. Emotionally everyone is connected to the team and the franchise. Important to keep calm and cut off the noise, trust yourself and just another game of cricket. No changes for us,” Sanju Samson said.
“We were actually looking to bat first, it looks a good pitch and we believe runs on the board in a big game will count in our favour. Guys had a good rest yesterday, but today everyone has turned up really fresh and pumped up for the game,” Faf du Plessis said.
Playing XI
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik(w), Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal
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