Bangalore and Rajasthan locked horns in the Qualifier 2 of the Indian T20 League 2022 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The 2008-winners won the toss and elected to field first in the knockout game. They started well as Virat Kohli (7) was caught behind by opposition skipper Sanju Samson off Prasidh Krishna in the second over of the innings. Skipper Faf du Plessis and Rajat Patidar stitched a partnership of 70 runs.
Du Plessis’s (25 off 27) struggle at the crease came to an end in the 11th over of the innings. He was caught by Ravichandran Ashwin at short third man off Obed McCoy. Glenn Maxwell, who came in at this stage scored 24 off 11 balls including two sixes and a four. His inning was cut short after he was caught at short fine leg by McCoy off Trent Boult.
Patidar, who scored 58 off 42 including four fours and three sixes followed next as he was caught at long-off by Jos Buttler off Ashwin. From 130/4 in 15.3 overs, the team went down to 157/8 at the end of the innings. For the Pink Brigade, Krishna and McCoy took three wickets each, while Ashwin and Boult took one each. In reply, the Sanju Samson-led side got to a dream start. Orange Cap holder Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal stitched a partnership of 61 runs in just five overs.
Jaiswal scored 21 off 13 balls including two sixes and a four before he was caught at point by Kohli off Josh Hazlewood in the sixth over. Skipper Samson came in and scored a steady 23 off 21 before he was stumped by Dinesh Karthik off Wanindu Hasaranga with the scorecard reading 113/2 in 11.4 overs. Devdutt Padikkal (9) was caught behind by Karthik off Hazlewood.
Buttler, on the other hand, completed his fourth century of the season with a single against Maxwell in the 18th over of the innings. With this, he has equalled Virat Kohli’s record of four hundreds which the 33-year-old had made in 2016. Meanwhile, Buttler’s unbeaten 106 off 60 balls including 10 fours and six sixes helped the team win the game by seven wickets and 11 balls to spare.
This is how Twitter reacted
Rajasthan Royals enter the IPL final for the first time since the inaugural edition in 2008. They won it that time. Are they going to win it now? It's going to be a battle between two sides who finished as the top two teams in the league stage.#RRvRCB
— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) May 27, 2022
The No 1 white ball player in the world (by a country mile btw) is at it again .. #Buttler #RR #IPL2022
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 27, 2022
Buttler smashes a hundred off 59 balls! #RRvRCB
It'll be Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals in the #IPL2022 final pic.twitter.com/45R3U7ta1a
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) May 27, 2022
We Rajasthan Royals supporters have waited fourteen years for this.
I know, nobody remembers the runners-up, but the end of a wait this long deserves to be cherished.
This time, for Warnie.#HallaBol
— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) May 27, 2022
The @josbuttler did it again!@rajasthanroyals into their first @IPL Final since the inaugural edition in 2008 when Shane Warne led them to glory. #RajasthanRoyals #Buttler #Platinum
— Alan Wilkins (@alanwilkins22) May 27, 2022
Aggressive cricket up front with ball and bat, Rajasthan royals you deserve to play this final. #RCBvsRR
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) May 27, 2022
Absolutely dominating performance by Rajasthan Royals in all the departments. Jos Butler scored 106 runs out of 161 runs scored by Rajasthan. Tough luck for RCB fans, yet again. #RCBvsRR #TATAIPL2022 pic.twitter.com/KMpPNYmyHg
— Amit Mishra (@MishiAmit) May 27, 2022
#shanewarne somewhere up in the sky. #RR #RCBvsRR #IPLFinal #Rajasthan Royals pic.twitter.com/3pShgVYaKK
— Devendra Pandey (@pdevendra) May 27, 2022
.@josbuttler ne #HallaBol diya ? Congratulations @rajasthanroyals for sealing the #IPLFinal berth ? #RRvRCB
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) May 27, 2022
And that's probably the only one you'll need! ?#TATAIPL #IPL2022 #RRvRCB #YehAbNormalHai #RRvsRCB #IPLplayoffs #HallaBol
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) May 27, 2022
