Rajasthan Royals (RR) advanced to the IPL 2022 finals with a thumping victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the penultimate match of the tournament on Friday (May 27) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahemdabad.
This is only their second appearance in the finals; the first time was in 2008 when they emerged victorious under the captaincy of the legendary spinner Shane Warne.
On the back of their newest sensation, Rajat Patidar’s another incredible knock (58 off 42 balls) in the playoffs, RCB posted 157/8 in 20 overs. In reply, Jos Buttler struck another fabulous century (106* off 60 balls), taking the Royals over the line with 7 wickets in hand and 11 deliveries to spare.
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After the game, RR head coach Kumar Sangakkara, while speaking to Star Sports, praised Jos Buttler, who has equaled Virat Kohli's record for most centuries in a single edition. He can go one up if he can score another hundred in the finals against Gujarat Titans (GT).
“Jos Buttler backs his strengths and manoeuvres the bowling to bowl more and more to his strengths. The great thing is he can accelerate anytime. Overall, he is a wonderful guy who thinks deeply about his game and himself,” Sangakkara said.
The Sri Lankan legend described the victory as "very satisfying", adding that reaching the Indian Premier League finals took a lot of hard work. He praised Prasidh Krishna and Obed McCoy in particular, saying they had fought hard in the last few days of the tournament.
"All the planning, all the hard work. Really tough with the close defeat to Gujarat Titans but the guys got back up and came back strongly. The entire bowling unit was outstanding. Special mention to Prasidh. We had 16 to defend in the last game, and three sixes by Miller. It can cause a huge dent in confidence. But he was honest, he was great in the nets. Then Trent Boult. And Obed McCoy, his mother, has been quite ill back home, but he has been able to put that aside. She is recovering well,” he said.
The cricketer-turned-coach spoke about their auction strategy and credited the analyst and the rest of the staff members, emphasizing that a team has to plan, work hard and execute the plans in order to win.
“At the auction table, we spent 90-95% of our purse on putting together our first XI. We worked hard on data to work on the players we wanted. We put emphasis on experience at the moment. We have a spattering of youngsters who will become stars later, but our first XI has a strong share of seasoned internationals. Full credit to Giles Lindsay, our analyst, Zubin Barucha, and the rest of the staff. Wins don't just happen. It takes a lot of planning, hard work, and execution on the field."
The finals will take place on Sunday (May 27) at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
(STAR SPORTS INPUTS)
