Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner scored an undefeated 93 to ensure victory over the Gujarat Lions and his team's place in the Indian Premier League final against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday.
His knock in the qualifier on Friday night came after the Sunrisers were set a target of 163 by the Lions.
Warner picked up boundaries in each of the first five overs and raced to 25 from 18 balls but by then had lost the company of Shikhar Dhawan and fellow Australian Moises Henriques.
He lost other partners but finally found an able ally in Bipul Sharma, the pair adding 46 runs in 3.3 overs to take their team past the finish line.
In all Warner hit 11 boundaries and three sixes in his 58-ball outing and his side got past the target with four balls to spare.
Sent into bat, the Lions lost opener Eklavya Dwivedi and skipper Suresh Raina for single-digits but got to a competitive total mainly thanks to Australian Aaron Finch's fifth half-century of the season.
He got to 50 with the aid of seven boundaries and two sixes before attempting to hit one out of the ground, only managing to drag the full toss from fellow Australian Ben Cutting (two wickets) on to his pads then his stumps.
The Lions finished with 7-162.
Warner paid tribute to his side's batting and Sharma's effort in their partnership.
"We're a chasing side and it was my turn to get the team through tonight.
"You need to keep trying to take wickets, and as a batting unit, sticking together. We're going to come back strong against RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore) in the final," Warner said.
Gujarat captain Raina gave credit to Warner's batting and said 160 was a decent score to chase.
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