RCB vs RR IPL Qualifier 2: Buttler’s 4th-century seals RR’s place in finals as RCB bow out
The wait continues for the Royal Challengers Bangalore to lift their maiden IPL trophy after they lost the Qualifier 2 against the Rajasthan Royals by 7wickets in Ahmedabad. Englishman Jos Buttler was once again the star of the show as he hit a record-equalling 4th century in this edition of the IPL to seal RR’s place in the final for the first time since 2008.
Batting first, the Royal Challengers Bangalore could only muster 157 on a good batting surface. RCB’s centurion in the eliminator Rajat Patidar once again top-scored with a crucial 58 off 42 balls, although he wasn’t as fluent as he was against LSG. The lack of decent contributions from the other end and some good death bowling by the Rajasthan Royals restricted RCB to 157 for the loss of 8 wickets. Buttler then blew away RCB in the chase by notching up his 4th hundred of the campaign.
Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson won only his 3rd toss this season and put RCB into bat on a spicy Motera pitch. Rajasthan’s bowlers Prasidh Krishna and Trent Boult hit the right lengths on a pitch that had some extra bounce. That extra bounce brought the priced scalp of Virat Kohli as went poking outside off only to edge it to the keeper.
The powerplay almost resembled Test match cricket, with Prasidh Krishna and Boult hitting the top of off on a consistent basis. Both Du Plessis and Patidar ensured there were no further casualties as RCB finished with 46 for 1 after the powerplay. Du Plessis struggled to find any rhythm in his batting as his innings was ended by Obed McCoy. But Patidar and Glenn Maxwell joined hands in the middle and upped the scoring rate in the middle overs.
The duo targeted Rajasthan spinners Ashwin and Chahal as they milked 26 in their two overs. But both batsmen fell in quick succession, with McCoy taking a brilliant diving catch to dismiss Maxwell for 24(13) and Patidar holed out at long-off for 58(42). Then it was time for redemption for Prasidh Krishna, who failed to defend 16 off the final over against GT. Parsidh, who bowled a 3-over spell in the powerplay, returned to dismiss the dangerous Dinesh Karthik and Hasaranga in successive deliveries to claim figures of 3 for 22.
Obed McCoy did his job at the other end too, with some good variations and claiming a 3-fer as well. RCB could only muster 34/5 in their last five overs and were restricted to 157/8.
In the chase, both Jaiswal and Buttler came out all guns blazing. The duo particularly targeted the out-of-form Mohammed Siraj, who conceded 31 runs in his first two overs. Du Plessis introduced left-arm spinner Shabhaz Ahmed early, only to be taken for 19 runs. RR raced away to 61 after 5 overs, with the result becoming a forgone conclusion by then.
Hazlewood dismissed Jaiswal in the 6th over but Sanju Samson wasted no time getting his innings underway with a boundary against Shahbaz, who conceded 35 in his two overs. While Rajasthan was cruising at 103 for 1 at the halfway mark, Harshal Patel induced an edge off Buttler, only to be dropped by Dinesh Karthik.
Samson was dismissed by Hasaranga but Buttler hit two sixes against the leg-spinner to bring up his century. Fittingly, it was Buttler who capped off the chase with a six off Harshal Patel on the first ball of the 19th over to send RR into their first IPL final in 15 years.
Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 157/8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 58; Prasidh Krishna 3-22, Obed McCoy 3-23) lost to Rajasthan Royals 161/3 in 18.1 overs (Jos Buttler 106*; Josh Hazlewood 2-23) by 7 wickets.
