Kane Williamson showed why he is known as the 'Iceman'. His cool and composed batting under pressure helped Sunrisers Hyderabad eliminate Royal Challengers Bangalore in a thrilling run chase in Abu Dhabi on Friday and book a place in Sunday's Qualifier 2 match against the Delhi Capitals.
Having restricted RCB to a below-par 131/7 after electing to bowl, the Sunrisers must have fancied their chances of chasing down the total, but they were struggling after a few early wickets.
Mohammed Siraj struck twice inside the powerplay to reduce Sunrisers to 48-2 in six overs, although David Warner's wicket was a tad controversial.
Third Umpire Virender Sharma overturned the on-field umpire S Ravi's decision by ruling Warner out caught behind even though there was much uncertainty if the ball grazed the SRH captain's gloves on its way to Wicket-keeper Shreevats Goswami.
Manish Pandey failed to carry on after getting off to a brisk start as he was caught behind off Adam Zampa for 24 and the young Priyam Garg threw his wicket away with a reckless shot, caught in the deep off Yuzvendra Chahal for seven.
RCB were back in the game as they reduced SRH to 67/4 in the 12th over. However, with Williamson out in the middle, the Sunrisers knew there was hope.
The New Zealand captain looked quite solid against RCB's spin quartet of Chahal, Adam Zampa, Washington Sundar and Moeen Ali. He took time to get going, but it was not long before he took the attack to the spinners.
With the asking rate going above six, Williamson decide to chance as he slog-swept Sundar for a six over midwicket -- his first boundary in 25 balls and also the first boundary hit for Sunrisers after nearly eight overs.
Even though the asking rate kept climbing, Williamson was never hurried and continued to bat calmly, which also helped settle down Jason Holder at the other end, as the duo slowly set about repairing the damage and bringing the innings back on track.
Williamson showed his class against the in-form Chahal, as he hit the last ball of his spell for a six over midwicket. That blow not only gave Sunrisers confidence, but also brought down the margin to 35 needed from four overs.
Williamson, on 37, got a lifeline when Devdutt Padikkal put down a tough chance on the square leg boundary in the 18th over. RCB would rue that missed opportunity as Williamson hit the next delivery he faced from Navdeep Saini for a four before completing a well-deserved fifty from 44 balls in the last over.
Holder ended off the match with two successive boundaries as Sunrisers won by six wickets with two balls to spare.
Williamson made the difference as he finished unbeaten on a splendid 50 from 44 balls, putting on an unbroken stand of 65 runs with Holder (24) to steer Sunrisers to a hard-fought victory in a difficult run chase.
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