Jos Buttler was Rajasthan Royals’ hero on Friday, his fourth century of the season helping his team to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets and book a date in the final against Gujarat Titans. But Royals’ director of cricket, Kumar Sangakkara, didn’t forget to mention the contribution of the bowlers in their final run.

The Sri Lankan great heaped praise on seamer Prasidh Krishna, who showed impressive mental strength to recover from being hit for three sixes in the final over of the last match to be the best bowler on Friday, taking 3/22.

“The entire bowling unit was outstanding... Special mention to Prasidh. We had 16 to defend in the last game, and three sixes by (David) Miller... It can cause a huge dent in the confidence. But he (Prasidh) was great in the nets,” Sangakkara said after the game.

“Then Trent Boult… And Obed McCoy, his mother has been quite ill back home, but he has been able to put that aside. She is recovering well. And (Ravichandran) Ashwin and Yuzi (Chahal) have run the show,” he added.

On Buttler’s superb knock, he said: “Jos Buttler backs his strengths and manoeuvres the bowling to his strengths. The great thing is he can accelerate anytime.”

Sangakkara also highlighted how important meticulous planning is in a tournament like the IPL. “At the auction table, we spent 90-95 per cent 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 smattering of youngsters who will become stars later, but our first XI has a strong share of seasoned internationals… Wins don’t just happen. It takes a lot of planning, hard work, execution on the field.”

Toss factor

Royals captain Sanju Samson said the toss played a big role. “The wicket, bowling first, was a bit sticky and helping the fast bowlers. The bounce was good, which made it easier to hit the spinners. But our fast bowlers bowled really well.

“Definitely the toss made it much easier for us. The toss plays a huge part. The pitch plays completely different in the second innings.”

Samson also revealed that the last time the Royals were in the IPL final, in 2008, he was playing U-16 cricket. “Touch wood, one more match to go… I was playing an under-16 final somewhere in Kerala when I saw Shane Warne and Sohail Tanvir win it for Rajasthan Royals in 2008.”