Jos Buttler's jaw-dropping knock of 106*(60) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Friday night (May 27) took Rajasthan Royals (RR) past the qualifiers as they managed to defeat the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by seven wickets in the Qualifier 2 to reach the IPL 2022 final.

Winning the toss, RR skipper Sanju Samson decided to field first. As the RCB openers Virat Kohli (7) and Faf du Plessis (25) failed to get the scoreboard going, Rajat Patidar once again stood alone, scoring a crucial 58(42), helping the team put up a respectable total of 157 at the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs.

Royals lost their opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (21) after a good start, but it was the Orange Cap holder Jos Buttler who took the pink army to victory, scoring his 4th century in this edition of the cash-rich league.

IPL 2022: “I stand proud of the team”, Faf du Plessis after RCB’s loss in Qualifier 2

After the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League in 2008, this is the second time the Rajasthan Royals have reached the finals. RR had won the first season of the cash-rich league in 2008 under Shane Warne’s captaincy, who passed away this year due to a heart attack.

Even though RCB failed to win the match, the Faf du Plessis-led franchise won many hearts after they posted an emotional tweet on the legendary late cricketer.

After the match, RCB wrote on Twitter, “The Great late Shane Warne is smiling on you. Well played tonight,@rajasthanroyals and good luck for the final,”, to which RR responded with two hearts.

Here is the tweet posted by RCB:

RR fans also showered their love and respect for Shane Warne, as they carried posters of the legendary spinner, with the words ‘First Royal’ written write under his smiling picture.

“Shane Warne is such an influential figure for the Rajasthan Royals and having led the team to success in the first season, we will miss him dearly, but we know he is looking down on us with a lot of pride today,” Jos Buttler said after the match.