Rajasthan Royals stormed into their first-ever IPL final since their inaugural run as they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2022 by 7 wickets. This was partly made possible by Jos Buttler who slammed his fourth century of the season, there by equaling the record of Virat Kohli d who achieved the feat in 2016. Back then, RCB had reached the finals only to lose it to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
IPL FULL COVERAGE | SCHEDULE | RESULTS | ORANGE CAP | PURPLE CAP
Buttler reached his century in merely 59 balls as he has now amassed a staggering 824 runs.
After Prasidh Krishna and Obed McCoy’s sensational bowling, Jos Buttler played a special knock (106 not out off 60) and led Rajasthan Royals to IPL 2022 final with a convincing seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Qualifier 2 at Narendra Modi Stadium, here on Friday.
It will be Rajasthan Royals’ first IPL final since 2008, when they won the title under the captaincy of legendary Shane Warne. Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan will now face Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat Titans in the final at the same stadium in front of a huge crowd on Sunday.
Buttler also became only the third batter after Virat Kohli and David Warner to go past the 800-run mark in a single season of the Indian Premier League. Notably, Kohli scored a record-breaking 973 runs in the 2016 IPL, the most in a season. David Warner was also in the form of his life as he plundered 848 runs to help SunRisers Hyderabad seal their maiden title.
Excellent bowling performance by Prasidh Krishna (3/22) and Obed McCoy (3/23) helped Rajasthan Royals restrict Royal Challengers Bangalore to 157/8 despite a fighting fifty by Rajat Patidar (58 off 42) in 20 overs after winning the toss and opting to bowl first. Apart from Prasidh and McCoy, Trent Boult (1/28),
Ravichandran Ashwin (1/31) also chipped in with one wicket each for Rajasthan while the likes of Faf du Plessis (25 off 25) and Glenn Maxwell (24 off 13) were the only main contributors with the bat for RCB besides Patidar.
Chasing a modest target, openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler gave Rajasthan Royals a blazing start. They showed their class and took RCB bowlers to cleaners, bringing the half-century stand for the opening wicket in just 27 balls.
Du Plessis introduced left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed early but it was only to be tonked away by Buttler as shoulders began to drop on the field. Josh Hazlewood dismissed Jaiswal in the final over of the Powerplay, but it didn’t have any effect on RR’s run chase.
Get all the latest updates on Cricket News, Cricket Photos, Cricket Videos, IPL 2022 Live Updates and Cricket Scores here