Sunrisers Hyderabad 132 for 4 (Williamson 50*, Holder 24*) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 131 for 7 (de Villiers 56, Finch 32, Holder 3-25, Natarajan 2-33) by six wickets
Two Test captains saw a jittery Sunrisers Hyderabad chase of 132 through, and their shirts and hair had sweat to show for it. Brought into the side after they failed to chase 127 against the Kings XI Punjab, Kane Williamson and Jason Holder absorbed all the pressure from the spinners on a turning pitch, saw the asking rate of eight when they came together nudge 10, but finished off the game in calculated manner with two balls to go. This was the Sunrisers' fourth straight win in a must-win game, and the Royal Challengers Bangalore's fifth straight loss after an excellent start to their season. The Sunrisers set up a virtual semi-final with the Delhi Capitals for the right to play the Mumbai Indians in the final.
Having recovered successfully from the injuries during the season to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mitchell Marsh and Vijay Shankar, the Sunrisers were now missing the man significantly responsible for their comeback, Wriddhiman Saha. The Royal Challengers had to contend with their talisman Chris Morris' absence, out with a quad injury. They made wholesale changes, punting on two legspinners and also getting Moeen Ali and Aaron Finch in.
On a pitch that offered both seam and spin, the bowlers from both sides were on top of their games. Eventually, only AB de Villiers and Williamson rose above the conditions, and they had to score their runs without taking risks because they didn't have batting cover behind them.
Full report to follow...