For the first time since their memorable title triumph in the inaugural edition in 2008 under Shane Warne’s captaincy, Rajasthan Royals (RR) have reached the final of the Indian Premier League. RR sealed their spot in the summit clash of the 2022 IPL with a thumping seven-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
The one-time champions will face Gujarat Titans in the summit clash on Sunday (May 29) in Ahmedabad. GT have made the final in their debut season in the league and will play in front of their home crowd for the first time in the title-decider.
By reaching the grand finale of IPL 2022, RR have continued an unique tradition that has been going on since the 2011 season when the playoff system was introduced. In every season since the fourth edition, the team finishing second in the point’s table has qualified for the final with RR ensuring that streak of the same continues.
In fact since 2011, nine out of 12 finals have been played between the two teams that finished top-two on the table after the league stage and played in the first qualifier. Only three times (2012, 2016, and 2021) that a team who has finished third or fourth and played the eliminator reached the summit clash. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) title-triumph in 2016 is the only occasion since the playoff system was introduced to win the tournament despite finishing outside the top-two.
Talking about yesterday’s game, RR chased down RCB’s total of 158 with 11 balls left. Jos Buttler continued his exceptional form in the tournament to bring up his fourth century in the ongoing season. He became only the second player after Virat Kohli to score as many tons in the same season. He is also only the third batter after Kohli and David Warner to register more than 800 runs in the same season.
RR had finished second in the league stage with a record of 9 wins and 5 losses. They were equal on points with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) but upstaged them on the basis of having a better Net-Run Rate (NRR).
