11.40pm What a night for Rajasthan Royals. That defeat to Gujarat Titans must not have been easy to take. They fought really hard after losing the toss, and went into the final over with 15 to defend. Such losses can crush you but they came back strong. So cool for a winning captain to say how big a role the toss plays. So the next time you hear a losing captain say that, don’t run it down as an excuse. This is all we have for you here on this Friday night. Sunday night will be the big final between teams that finished on 1 and 2 on the league table. Before that, do not forget the final of the Women’s T20 Challenge on Saturday. For now, good night and good luck.

11.35pm “No not at at all,” says Jos Buttler, Player of the Match. “I came to the season with very low expectations but a lot of energy. It is very exciting to stand in the final. I had a season of two halves, and had very honest conversations with people really close to me. I was feeling the pressure midway, and it was only about a week ago that I opened up about it. It helped me and I went to Kolkata with a freer mind. Sometimes it is not working for me, and there are times when a younger me would have played a shot and come out. But it’s something that Sanga has been saying that the longer you stay, you give yourselves a chance to find a way. Great excitement to have the opportunity to play in the final of the biggest tournament in T20 cricket. Shane Warne has been such an influential figure for RR. We will miss him dearly.”

11.30pm “It was really tough,” says Sanju Samson. “But we used to bouncing back in the IPL. It is a long tournament where you go up and down. 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. We needed to close very well with DK and Maxwell there. Yes definitely the toss made it much easier for us. The toss plays a huge part. The pitch plays completely different in the second innings. We are very fortunate to have Jos. 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.”

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.