Indian Premier League 2020 Eliminator: Sunrisers Hyderabad seal 6-wicket win in low-scoring thriller; Royal Challengers Bangalore eliminated

After bowlers restricted Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to a lowly total, Kane Williamson smashed a half-century to help Sunrisers Hyderabad beat the Virat Kohli-led side by six wickets in the Eliminator of the ongoing 13th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

With the win, Sunisers have set up a clash against Delhi Capitals in the Qualifier 2--the winner of which will face Mumbai Indians in the final. The Bangalore franchise, on the other hand, has knocked out of the tournament.

Hyderabad won the toss and opted to bowl first during the all-important clash. 

Jason Holder bagged three wickets, while T Natarajan and Shahbaz Nadeem contributed with two and a wicket, respectively to help Sunrisers Hyderabad restrict Bangalore to a partly score of 131 for seven in their stipulated 20 overs.

Virat Kohli, who came to open the batting for RCB today alongside Devdutt Padikkal, fell cheaply for six runs off Jason Holder delivery in the second over.Padikkal soon followed the skipper back to the pavilion after being caught by Priyam Garg at midwicket on a Holder delivery in the fourth over.

AB de Villiers (56) then smashed a calm and composed half-century besides sharing a crucial 41-run stand with Aaron Finch (32) for the third wicket.

After the duo's dismissals, RCB lost Moeen Ali (0), Shivam Dube (8) and Washington Sundar (5) cheaply, while Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj remained unbeaten at nine and 10, respectively.

In reply, SRH lost openers David Warner and Shreevats Goswami cheaply for 17 and duck, respectively.

Subsequently, Manish Pandey also failed to convert his decent start into a big score and departed for 21-ball 24 runs. 

Kane Williamson then brought up a crucial knock of 50 runs off 44 balls besides sharing a 65-run stand with Jason Holder (unbeaten at 24) to help Sunrisers cross the mark in 19.4 overs.

For RCB, Mohammed Siraj claimed two wickets, while Adam Zampa and Yuzvendra Chahal chipped in with a wicket each.

Williamson was declared 'Man of the Match' for his impressive performance with the bat.

SRH will now meet Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 at the same venue on Sunday.