Qualifier 2 (N), Ahmedabad, May 27, 2022, Indian Premier League (Jos Buttler 106*, Shimron Hetmyer 2*, Harshal Patel 0/29) – RESULT, RCB vs RR, Qualifier 2, live score, 2022

11.12pm “Very satisfying,” says Kumar Sangakkara. “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. 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. 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 then confidence. But he was honest, he was great in the nets. Then Trent Boult. And O)bed McCoy, his mother has been quite ill back home, but he has been able to put that aside. She is recovering well. And Ashwin and Yuzi have run the show. 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, execution on the field.”

11.07pm “When we walked off the field we felt we were a bit short,” says Faf du Plessis. “It was pretty challenging with the new ball, it moved around a bit. But we got through the first six without much damage. It felt like Test cricket in that first session. More bounce really. Still we felt 180 was par. I am really proud otherwise. It has been a great season for RCB. My first season to see how special the crowds have been for us. Harshal, DK

11.02 Joy in the RR camp, despondency in RCB. Buttler has lost his helmet as he shakes the hands of RCB fielders on his way back to his team-mates. A complete rout of RCB. The Royals had their plans in place and executed them superbly on a pitch that suited their into-the-pitch bowling. The decision-making was spot on. Sanju Samson was quick to see a bouncy pitch and bowl through the powerplay with his new-ball bowlers. Then on a pitch that didn’t help him, R Ashwin put in a shift. Obed McCoy was superb with his variations, making up for a rare off day for Yuzvendra Chahal. Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal then killed off the chase in the powerplay itself. Buttler then controlled the chase superbly. This is as comprehensive as they come.