Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) tried to defend their below-par total of 131 till the end but have now returned empty-handed as they face defeat by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator of the Indian Premer League (IPL) at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
SRH knocked out RCB from the tournament crushing their trophy dream and they will now face an extremely hurt Delhi Capitals (DC) in Qualifier 2.
Winning the toss and putting RCB to bat first, SRH produced a brilliant bowling effort. Jason Holder led the bowling attack with impressive figures of three for 25 and was supported by T Natarajan (2/33).
AB de Villiers' 56 off 43 somewhat rescued RCB from a horrible start to help them get past the 120-run mark.
RCB lost two wickets for 15 runs inside four overs after being sent into bat. Skipper Virat Kohli (6), who opened the innings alongside Devdutt Padikkal (1), was the first to depart. An over later, Holder picked up his second victim when Padikkal pulled one to Priyam Garg inside the circle.
Aaron Finch (32 off 30), who replaced Josh Philippe, and de Villiers tried to stabilise the innings with a 41-run third-wicket stand. However, the twin blows in the 11th over put RCB on a halt.
Finch departed, caught by Abdul Samad off Shahbaz Nadeem (1/30) and then Moeen Ali was caught short off the crease by a direct hit from Rashid Khan on a Free Hit.
Nor Shivam Dube (8) or Washington Sundar (5) helped the side. De Villiers brought up his 50 off 39 balls, but he was soon sent packing by a yorker from Natarajan.
Coming in to chase, it was expected to see SRH go full guns blazing, however, they seemed to have started slow. Warner was accompanied by Shreevats Goswami, who came in place of injured Wriddhiman Saha.
The wicketkeeper-batsman however, did not stay long and was sent back for a golden duck by Mohammed Siraj.
RCB then started putting pressure on the SRH batting side and Warner's wicket sure was the highlight. RCB reviewed a caught-behind.
Siraj seamed in and Warner backed away. There was a sound as the ball went through Warner's bat and body.
It sounded like a glove, but the thigh pad is very close. There was a spike when the ball was under the glove and over the thigh pad. The third umpire overturned the on-field umpire's decision and Warner was sent back for 17.
Manish Pandey and Kane Willaimson tried to get the innings back on track but the former was sent back by spinner Adam Zampa for 24.
Williamson, however, stayed till the end and even saw Priyam Garg go who scored just 7 off 14 balls. The Kiwi batsman (50* off 44) however, got a good partnership with Jason Holder (24* off 20) who together took SRH towards the finish line.
