For a while, it looked like the Sunrisers Hyderabad would choke like they have never choked before. However, in a tournament where the West Indians have stood tall like no other, it came as no surprise when Darren Sammy smashed two brilliant sixes to take his side to the IPL 2013 playoffs with a thrilling five-wicket win against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan were seemingly taking the Sunrisers to the easiest of wins, after being set a target of 131, with KKR finishing on 130 for seven, but a middle-order collapse threatened to derail the rise of the Sunrisers, before Sammy, with ice in his veins, settled all nerves in emphatic style.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore will be left wondering how, with Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers in their side, they did not manage to finish in the top four for the second straight season in the IPL.
But no-one can begrudge the Sunrisers, who have been absolutely brilliant with the ball, with their batsmen backing them up in the final few games to see them through to the playoffs, and join CSK, Mumbai Indians and the Rajasthan Royals in the final rounds.
Despite being under tremendous pressure and facing must-win game, the Sunrisers made the chase look really easy - for 11 overs - before nearly choking towards the end.
A good start was the key, and Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel provided it with an 89-run partnership from just 11.3 overs for the first wicket.
Both left-handers have been in good form off late and they brought their experience into play as well, showing great composure in the middle to settle the butterflies in the stomachs of the Sunrisers bench.
Patel was the aggressor in the beginning, hitting the first five boundaries, before Dhawan got in on the act with a big six off Yusuf Pathan in the final ball of the powerplay overs.
The home side coasted along nicely, bringing up the 50 in the eighth over, before Dhawan cranked up a gear with a glut of boundaries.
It looked like the openers themselves would see their side through to the win, but Dhawan (42, 35b, 3x4, 2x6) fell lbw to Iqbal Abdulla after missing the ball while attempting a reverse sweep.
A mini-collapse followed with the Sunrisers losing three more wickets in the space of three overs as RCB, with their eyes surely glued to the TV sets, imagined a stunning turnaround of fortunes.
Abdulla got his second wicket with Patel (47, 37b, 7x4) given lbw to a ball that struck him in front of the stumps, although the left-hander did show his bat to the umpire, with replays proving to be inconclusive.
Sunrisers skipper Cameron White unnecessarily threw his wicket away, run out after a mix-up with Hanuma Vihari.
Vihari, then, did not make matters any easy for the Sunrisers, top-edging a sweep off Abdulla (three for 29), with Paras Dogra completing the catch, and leaving the home side tottering on 108 for four.
The required run rate, which was well below five runs an over, was now above six as Sunil Narine increased the pressure with a maiden over in the 17th.
The Sunrisers needed 23 runs from the last 18 deliveries with two new batsmen - Thisara Perera and Darren Sammy - at the crease.
Matters got worse, with Perera castled by a good yorker from Shami Ahmed as KKR now looked like they could indeed pull off a win.
A boundary off the last ball from Biplab Samantray, though, cut the target to 15 from the last two overs, with the onus on Sammy to see his side through. And boy oh boy did Sammy see his side through, striking two massive sixes off Abdulla to finish things off in style with seven deliveries to spare.
Earlier, KKR never really got going in their innings, symptomatic of their entire IPL 2013 really, as the batsmen struggled to find any kind of momentum throughout the 20 overs.
The Sunrisers bowling has been by far the best in this year's IPL, and they stood tall yet again, not only picking up wickets at regular intervals, but also making sure the run rate always stayed well within reach - although it must be said both of those do go hand in hand.
Manvinder Bisla looked decent in the first couple of overs, hitting a couple of boundaries and trying to give KKR a sound start, something they haven't really had consistently this season.
Thisara Perera was the man to dismiss Bisla (15, 18b, 3x4) with a short ball finding the top edge of the batsman, and allowing Cameron White to complete a comfortable catch.
Gautam Gambhir (10 in 17) has had an extremely underwhelming IPL 2013, and it did not end well either with the KKR skipper falling prey to a run out.
Eoin Morgan, who has faded in the second half of the season, also disappointed as the left-hander was trapped in front by leg-spinner Karan Sharma.
Kallis , at the other end, was struggling to get going as well, and could not take advantage of a decent start, falling after a 29-ball 24 (2x4) to compatriot Dale Steyn (two for 24).
Ryan Ten Doeschate, the one bright spot in the latter part of this year, could not make an impression, failing to read a googly from Amit Mishra to get caught plumb in front of the wicket.
KKR were 95 for five from 16.1 overs at that point, and Yusuf Pathan - who had a bit of an altercation with Steyn in the penultimate over after slamming the fast bowler for a six -- made a quickfire 49 (29b, 3x4, 3x6) to at least push KKR to the 130-run mark.
