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South Australian Redbacks won the toss and opted to bat first. The decision proved to be the correct one as the Redbacks posted 57 runs in the PowerPlay. SAR skipper, Michael Klinger - the only wicket to fall in the first six overs - made 7 and was stumped by Arun Karthik off J Syed Mohammad.

 

The Redbacks' assault continued as Daniel Harris and Callum Ferguson struck a 114-run partnership off just 12.3 overs. South Australia reached the 100-run mark in 12.1 overs while they crossed 150 exactly 24 balls later. Ferguson (70) was eventually caught by wicketkeeper Karthik off Raju Bhatkal in the 18th over with the score at 168.

 

Harris, however, went on to score a century by hitting Dirk Nannes for a six over long leg in the 19th over. Then Daniel Christian's nine-ball 27 took SAR past the 200-run mark. Chirstian hammered Sreenath Aravind for five fours in the 20th over to take SAR's total to 214 for two in 20 overs. Aravind's final figures read a disappointing 69 runs from four overs.

 

RCB went after SAR's mammoth score with an aggressive approach. Chris Gayle and Tillakaratne Dilshan hammered 65 runs in the PowerPlay before Gayle (26) was dismissed by Christian off the first delivery of the seventh over. Virat Kohli took over from where Gayle had left and added 100 runs for the second wicket with Dilshan in no time. With 50 runs required off the last 31 deliveries and Kohli and Dilshan blazing away with nine wickets in hand, the game appeared very much within RCB's reach.

 

Shaun Tait then provided a remarkable twist in the tale. The Redbacks' pacer took five wickets in the space of 12 deliveries, including the wickets of Kohli (70) and Dilshan (74), to give Redbacks the upper hand in the closing moments of the game.

 

RCB managed to scrape through nevertheless. With 14 required off the last six deliveries and six off the last ball, Karthik slog-swept Christian over deep mid-wicket to give his side a most exciting victory. It was one of those rare occasions where a team with a centurion (Harris) and a bowler with a five-wicket haul (Tait) ended up on the losing side.

 

RCB will now play New South Wales Blues in the first semi-final in Bengaluru on Friday while Somerset will play Mumbai Indians in the second semi-final on Saturday in Chennai.

 

Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 215/8 in 20 overs (Tillakaratne Dilshan 74, Virat Kohli 70, Shaun Tait 5/32) beat South Australian Redbacks 214/2 in 20 overs (Daniel Harris 108 n.o., Callum Ferguson 70, J Syed Mohammad 1/29) by two wickets.

 

Man-of-the-match: Virat Kohli for his match-winning innings of 70 from just 36 balls (4x4, 6x6).