The opponents of the Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2022 final will be known today. In the second qualifier, Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals will take on Faf du Plessis Royal Challengers Bangalore. The match (RR vs RCB Qualifier 2) will be played at 7.30 pm in Ahmedabad. For the first time in history, cricket fans in Kerala are eager to see if a Mallu captain‘s team can reach the IPL final!
Arrival of RR
In the first qualifier, Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson won the toss but Gujarat Titans won the match by 7 wickets. After losing the toss at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Rajasthan scored 188 for 6 in the allotted overs. In reply, Gujarat lost just 3 wickets in 19.3 overs. Captain Hardik Pandya (40 off 27 balls) and David Miller (68 off 38 balls) led Gujarat to victory. In the last over, Miller secured Gujarat’s final ticket with three consecutive sixes against Prasidh Krishna.
Rajasthan lost the toss and opted to bat first. Jaiswal was dismissed for 3 off the last ball of the second over before Samson- Buttler joined hands with Rajasthan. Sanju started with a six against Yash Dayal. Buttler added 68 runs for the third wicket with Buttler. Sanju scored 47 off 26 balls. Despite the defeat, Rajasthan got another chance to qualify for the finals.
Advent of RCB
Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bangalore advanced to the second qualifier after defeating the Lucknow Super Giants by 14 runs in the eliminator of Rajat Patidar’s century. Batting first, RCB put on 207 for four in 20 overs. Patidar was unbeaten on 112 off 54 balls with 12 fours and seven sixes, while Dinesh Karthik was unbeaten on 37 off 23 balls with five fours and a six. Patidar was battling skipper Faf Duplessis for the Golden Duck, Virat Kohli for 25, and Glenn Maxwell for 9.
Lucknow, who chased down Bangalore’s 207, could only manage 193 runs. In reply, skipper KL Rahul (79 off 58 balls) and Deepak Hooda (45 off 26 balls) tried their best but the RCB bowlers did not give up. Josh Hazlewood took 3 wickets while Wanindu Hazaranga, Mohammad Siraj, and Harshal Patel took one wicket each. Lucknow was eliminated and with this, Rajasthan Royals-Royal Challengers Bangalore got ready for the second qualifier.
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