It’s been a while since Rajasthan Royals made it to an IPL final. 13 seasons to be precise. This after they won the inaugural season in a fairytale campaign beating the more fancied Chennai Super Kings in the summit clash in 2008. Since then, CSK have made the final eight more times – winning four of them. RR have managed three playoffs appearances since then. But this time around, they stitched together a formidable bowling unit and a batter in the form of his life as they combined to put them on the brink to what could be their second ever IPL trophy.
Let’s take a look at their IPL 2022 journey so far:-
A Big Statement
RR finished seventh out of eight teams last season. Of the four players they could retain, they chose to stick with three while releasing the remaining squad members. At the mega auction, the former title winners built a solid team on paper. The team started their campaign in a dominating fashion with four victories in a row (they managed a grand total of five wins last year). At the start, they swept aside Sunrisers Hyderabad by 61 runs after posting 210/6. Jos Buttler starred in their second win over five-time champions Mumbai Indians with his first of four centuries of the season so far. They hunted Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickers to complete hat-trick of wins and made it four out of four with a narrow three-run win over Lucknow Super Giants.
A Minor Setback Before Chahal Hat-trick
For their fifth match, RR ran into a formidable Gujarat Titans and suffered their first defeat of IPL 2022. Stung by that, RR reacted with another hat-trick of wins. Buttler peeled off back-to-back hundreds as they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals in two high-scoring clashes. And then bowlers stepped up as they defended 144 against a star-studded RCB batting line-up. The win against KKR became more memorable thanks Yuzvendra Chahal taking a hat-trick to derail their chase in what turned out to be a four-wicket over.
Inconsistency Creeps in
RR had a wonderful start winning seven of their first eight matches. The high-flying Royals encountered a turbulence when lost to MI and KKR. MI ended their run of eight defeats against RR while KKR exacted a revenge. They bounced back with a six-wicket win over Punjab Kings but lost to Delhi Capitals for their fourth defeat. The loss created a dent in RR’s hopes of a top-four finish.
The Response
With other teams catching up, RR stepped up their game as well. They defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 24 runs to boost their net run-rate as well which all but sealed a playoffs spot. However, a top-two finish was up for grabs which would give them two shots at making the final. With their last-over win against Chennai Super Kings in what was also their final league match, RR sealed the second spot.
A Longer Route But Date With GT Sealed
In the first qualifier, RR faced GT – for the second time in the season. Buttler stepped up with a superb 89 off 56 to help them to a challenging 188/6 at the Eden Gardens. But David Miller (68*) and Hardik Pandya (40*) helped GT overhaul the target with three deliveries to spare. RR now entered the second qualifier where they faced RCB.
An all-round display followed with Prasidh Krishna and Obed McCoy sharing six wickets to limit RCB to 157/8. And then Buttler became the second player to score four centuries in a single season to power RR to a seven-wicket win and into the final of IPL 2022 where they will face GT.
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