IPL qualifier: AB de Villiers steers Bangalore into final after topsy-turvy match against Gujarat

Royal Challengers Bangalore are through to the final of the 2016 Indian Premier League after an incredible four-wicket win against Gujarat Lions in the first qualifier at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday. After restricting Gujarat to 158 in 20 overs, Bangalore were reeling at 29/5 at one stage, before AB de Villiers (79 not out off 47 balls) stepped in and steered his team past the finish line, with all-rounder Iqbal Abdulla also hitting an invaluable 33 runs.

Gujarat have one more chance to make their way to the final and will play the winner of Wednesday's eliminator between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second qualifier on Friday.

Here is how the match unfolded:

Bangalore take just two balls to knock off the remaining three runs and are through to the final. What an incredible match this has been! ABD is the clear match-winner, but don't forget the contribution of Iqbal Abdulla, who scored invaluable 33 runs.

Gujarat will play the winner of the eliminator match between Hyderabad and Kolkata on Friday for another go at a place in the summit clash.

ABD tries the reverse sweep again, misses, but the ball clips off his pads and runs down for four leg-byes. Abdulla then sends the Chinnaswamy Stadium berserk with three consecutive boundaries, two of them mistimed. Nothing is going right for Gujarat right now! They need a miracle to win this one. RCB need just three off the last two overs.

ABD wants to finish this early! He cracks Praveen Kumar for six over mid-wicket, before getting the reverse sweep out for four runs. This is Bangalore's game to lose now; they need just 21 off the last three overs.

Jakati is back into the attack and ABD sweeps the left-arm spinner for six off the first ball! The nerves clearly get to Jakati as he later bowls a horrible full toss, which Iqbal Abdulla manages to clear over the deep-midwicket fence for six. Kohli is ecstatic in the dug-out as the 50-partnership between these two comes up. No prizes for guessing who has scored the most of those runs. RCB need 33 off the last four overs.

AB de Villiers decides to step it up as he smashes Dwayne Smith down the ground for a four and a six. He almost got another boundary at the long-off boundary, but for a superb fielding effort by Dwayne Bravo. Fourteen runs from the over; RCB need 49 from the last five.

Bravo is back and bowls another superb over, giving away just four runs. RCB need 63 runs from the last six overs to win. Still possible with ABD at the crease, but he needs others to stay with him.

Jadeja is back for his final over and bowls an excellent one, conceding just three runs. He finishes with figures of 2/21. RCB need 67 runs from 42 balls.

Dwayne Bravo comes into the attack and bowls a good over, but for one delivery that was full and outside off, which De Villiers cracks through the covers for four.

AB de Villiers is fighting a lone battle out there as he launches Shadab Jakati straight down the ground for six. He needs support from the remaining batsmen if Bangalore stand any chance of winning.

Shadab Jakati comes into the attack and is attacked straight away by Stuart Binny, who hits him for two fours and a six. Eighteen runs come off the over, which would have given RCB some sense of relief. Time for the time-out.

Kulkarni finishes his spell with a wicketless over to the relief of RCB. He has returned figures of 4/14 in his four overs – his first four-wicket haul in T20 games – and could just have won Gujarat this match.

AB de Villiers calms some nerves by cracking two boundaries in the over bowled by Jadeja. RCB's required rate is still above nine an over.

Oh, my word! Dhawal Kulkarni has another one! That's four already and he's got one more over left! Sachin Baby tries to carve the medium-pacer over cover, but only finds the safe hands of Shadab Jakati. RCB are five down at the end of the Powerplay! Who would've thought!

Ravindra Jadeja comes into the attack to replace Kumar, and strikes straight away. This time, it's Watson who has to walk back as he mistimes his sweep and ends up top-edging it to slip. RCB are in real trouble now and could, inexplicably, end up losing this match.

Dhawal Kulkarni strikes again! And then again! What is happening here?! Kulkarni gets the wickets of Gayle and KL Rahul off consecutive deliveries and, all of a sudden, Gujarat are on top of this match!

Praveen Kumar continues to be targeted, as AB de Villiers launches him over long-off for six. However, Kumar does well to concede just two more runs in the over.

The unthinkable has happened! Has this really happened?! Virat Kohli is gone for a duck. Dhawal Kulkarni bowls a bit short and outside off, which Kohli only manages to clip onto his own stumps. The Chinnaswamy stadium is in shock, as is everyone watching this match! HUGE wicket for Gujarat.

10 pm: RCB 11/0 in 1 over (Gayle 5*, Kohli 0*)

Praveen Kumar begins proceedings for Gujarat and bowls a horrible first over. He first strays down the leg to Chris Gayle, and the left-hander just clips off his hips to the fine-leg fence for four. Kumar then bowls the widest delivery you will ever see, which beats everyone and goes down for four byes. Not the start Gujarat would have wanted.

Chris Jordan bowls the final over and gets Praveen Kumar bowled. GL end up getting bowled out off the last ball of the innings, as Dhawal Kulkarni runs himself out going for a second run that was never there. Gujarat miss out on 160, but they would be happy with where they are considering the disastrous start they had. They were 10/3 in four overs and 48/3 in nine.

Six, six, out, out, wide, four, four.

What a bizarre over! Gujarat cross the 150-mark and that would give them a huge psychological boost.

Welcome runs for Gujarat as Dwayne Bravo carves Chris Jordan for a boundary through cover. To add to Jordan's misery, his yorker then clips off Eklavya Dwivedi's boots to go for four leg-byes.

Dwayne Smith smacks Chahal for a six over mid-wicket, but the Purple Cap holder gets his man eventually. Abdulla bowls a quicker one, which Smith hits straight down the throat of Kohli at long-on. Huge wicket for RCB as Smith goes for 73 off just 41 balls. Is it all over for GL?

Shane Watson is back into the attack and he strikes straight away. The Australian gets Jadeja out with another short delivery, pitched outside off-stump. Jadeja slices the ball towards backward point, where Gayle runs to his left and takes a great catch.

Dwayne Smith brings up his team's 100 with a six over deep square-leg, as Aravind errs with a low full-toss. The poor delivery spoiled what was otherwise a good over from the left-arm pacer.

The partnership is finally broken as Dinesh Karthik attempts a cheeky shot towards fine-leg, but only manages to get himself bowled off Chris Jordan. Karthik departs for 26 and the partnership was worth 85 runs. Ravindra Jadeja is the new batsman.

Six overs left and GL still aren't past 100. How many more runs do you reckon they can get?

Dwayne Smith brings up his half-century in style, smacking a four and six off the bowling of Abdulla. Earlier in the over, Karthik also scored a boundary, sweeping the left-arm spinner. Gujarat got 17 runs from the over and they need a few more like this one.

Chahal is back and bowls five good balls, giving away just two runs, before Smith whacks him for six off the last ball of the over.

8.50 pm: GL 64/3 in 11 overs (Karthik 17*, Smith 38*)

Iqbal Abdulla comes back into the attack and puts a stop on the scoring, somewhat, giving away just six runs.

Dwayne Smith clearly switched on his button in the time-out, as he whacks Chahal for a six and two fours. This partnership is looking good now and is worth 49 runs already. Gujarat have to target at least 10 runs per over if they want a competitive total.

8.42 pm: GL 42/3 in 9 overs (Karthik 11*, Smith 22*)

Stuart Binny gets a run-in and the medium-pacer bowls another tight over for RCB, conceding just four overs. The strategic time-out is taken at the end of the over, and GL have a LOT to ponder over. The bright side is that they haven't lost a wicket in the last five overs. However, they need to pick up their run-rate if they want to stand a chance against the RCB batting line-up.

8.37 pm: GL 38/3 in 8 overs (Karthik 9*, Smith 20*)

The Purple Cap holder, Yuzvendra Chahal, comes into the attack and bowls a tight over, giving away just five runs.

8.34 pm: GL 33/3 in 7 overs (Karthik 6*, Smith 18*)

Dwayne Smith hits the first six of the match, pulling Chris Jordan powerfully over backward square-leg. Welcome runs for GL as they get 10 off the over. They need many more such overs if they are to make a match out of this.

8.30 pm: GL 23/3 in 6 overs (Karthik 5*, Smith 11*)

Watson is back for a second over and he keeps it tight yet again. Just three runs off the over means that Gujarat have got through the Powerplay at 23/3.

Meanwhile, here is a piece of trivia that would make RCB very happy:

8.25 pm: GL 20/3 in 5 overs (Karthik 3*, Smith 10*)

Change of ends for Abdulla, but it doesn't work out as Dwayne Smith smacks him for two welcome boundaries. Ten runs off the over and it would have brought some relief to the Gujarat camp.

8.20 pm: GL 10/3 in 4 overs (Karthik 2*, Smith 1*)

Kohli takes Abdulla out of the attack after an incredible over, but it doesn't matter as Shane Watson comes in and gets rid of GL captain Suresh Raina. Again, the wicket was as much due to Kohli's captaincy as it was Watson's bowling. The Australian bowled a slow bouncer to the left-handed Raina, who looked to pull it over square-leg, but could only find Aravind who takes a great low catch. The Lions are getting mauled here in Bengaluru!

8.15 pm: GL 9/2 in 3 overs (Raina 1*, Karthik 2*)

Another tight over from Aravind, conceding just two runs. RCB are all over the Lions so far and this contest will be over soon if the visitors don't make amends.

8.10 pm: GL 7/2 in 2 overs (Raina 0*, Karthik 1*)

Left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla shares the new ball and he strikes straight away, getting rid of both Gujarat openers. Abdulla set up McCullum wonderfully, tossing it up outside off and getting the Kiwi batsman to step out and loft it towards long-off. Unfortunately for Baz, the ball landed straight into long-off's hands. Finch then snuck a boundary over slip off the next ball, but Abdulla got his outside edge on the next, as Chris Gayle takes a sitter. Brilliant captaincy by Kohli, getting the field placements spot on. GL are two-down in two overs!

8.05 pm: GL 3/0 in 1 over (Finch 0*, McCullum 1)

Sreenath Aravind bowls a superb first over for RCB, giving away just one run and a leg-bye. A watchful start for Gujarat openers Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum.8.

7.55 pm: Here is the form guide of both teams (most recent last):

• Gujarat Lions: LWLWW

• Royal Challengers Bangalore: LWWWW

7.50 pm: What do you reckon is a safe total for Gujarat to defend? Given Kohli's form, 300 should be safe? Tweet to us @scroll_in

P.S.: Kohli needs just 81 runs to complete 1,000 runs this season. 1,000!

7.45 pm: Here are the two teams:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli (captain), AB de Villiers, KL Rahul, Shane Watson, Sachin Baby, Stuart Binny, Chris Jordan, Iqbal Abdulla, Sreenath Aravind, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Gujarat Lions: Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina (captain), Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Smith, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Eklavya Dwivedi , Shadab Jakati, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni.

7.30 pm: Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli has won the toss in the first qualifier against Gujarat Lions and opted to field at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. This pitch is a typical Bengaluru belter and promises a lot of runs. Both captains said they are fielding unchanged teams from their respective previous matches.

Welcome to Scroll.in's over-by-over live blog of the 2016 Indian Premier League's first qualifier between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Lions at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday. Whoever wins this match will go straight through to the final at the same stadium on Sunday.

The two teams are even in head-to-head encounters this season. Gujarat drew first blood, beating RCB in a nail-biter in Rajkot by six wickets, despite Virat Kohli's century. However, RCB had their revenge, and how! In the return fixture, a mammoth 229-run partnership between Kohli and AB de Villiers helped RCB post 248/3 on the board, the second-highest in IPL history. Gujarat would fall short by 144 runs, the highest victory margin in the history of the tournament.

Due to Kohli and RCB's form, Gujarat are the clear underdogs in this match, despite topping the table. However, Suresh Raina's men should not be underestimated, as Scroll.in's Jaideep Vaidya writes, given not many would have expected them to be in this position in the first place.