On a day when two of Australia's master pacemen both took a hammering, Pat Cummins finished victorious but it was still his mate Josh Hazlewood who ended up with the bigger smile.
For Hazlewood's defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru were perfectly happy to get soundly beaten by 55 runs, having sacrificed trying to defeat the Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad to ensure they finished atop the IPL table on Friday.
After Cummins went for 48 runs off his four-over allocation and Hazlewood leaked 55 off his, with neither grabbing a wicket, Bengaluru will next host second-placed Gujarat Titans in the first playoff on Tuesday, with the winners going straight into the May 31 final in Ahmedabad.
Hyderabad, third in the table, will then host the second playoff on Wednesday against a team yet to be determined.
