Sunrisers Hyderabad claimed victory by six wickets in Friday’s Eliminator and will next play Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 on Sunday night in Abu Dhabi.
However, Sunrisers’ progress appeared on shaky ground after they slumped to 4-67 in the 12th over in pursuit of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s total of 7-131.
On a difficult wicket for batting, one man stood up. That was New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, combining with Jason Holder for a decisive 65-run partnership.
Williamson made an unbeaten 50no from 44 balls, scoring two fours and two sixes in a mature and classy knock, while Holder made 24no from 20 balls, including two boundaries in the final over to secure the win.
Sunrisers needed nine off the final over, with Holder taking charge to seal their spot in Qualifier 2 with two balls to spare.
“What a masterclass from Kane, he’s done it for years for New Zealand,” said Warner who was controversially given out by the third umpire caught behind for 17.
“With the class of batting line up they had, you obviously knew there was something in that wicket with the new ball holding.
“You had to wait for the ball to be overpitched. The spinners bowled quite slow, they were fantastic through the middle overs.
“But at the end of the day, when you have a guy like Kane at the end (you back him) but it was a bit close for my liking.”
RCB captain Virat Kohli acknowledged his side lost the match with the bat, with his own experiment as an opener failing, dismissed for 6.
AB de Villiers played a virtual lone hand with 56 from 43 balls, while Aaron Finch added 32 at first drop but no one else got more than 10.
“If you talk about the first innings, I don’t think we had enough on the board already,” Kohli said.
“The position we got ourselves in the second half, probably better execution. It’s a game of margins.
“We just didn’t have enough runs on the board in my opinion.”
The winner of Sunday’s Hyderabad-Delhi Qualifier 2 will play Mumbai Indians in Tuesday’s Final in Dubai.