Mumbai Indians ends Knight Riders' run in IPL-IV

Tendulkar's men will now take on Royal Challengers Bangalore for a spot in the final against Chennai Super Kings

May 25, 2011 08:02 pm | Updated May 26, 2011 03:55 am IST - Mumbai

Aiden Blizzard, the chunky left-hander from Victoria, opened the innings with Sachin Tendulkar, and provided a blistering 81-run platform for Mumbai Indians to eliminate Kolkata Knight Riders from IPL-IV at the Wankhede Stadium here on Wednesday. Set a target of 148, MI wobbled after crossing the half-way mark, but in the end managed to eke out a four-wicket victory and stay in contention for the title match.

Blizzard's knock (51, 30b, 7x4, 2x6) lit up the second half of the match after KKR, straddling on Ryan ten Doeschate's superb unbeaten 70 (49b, 6x4, 3x6) gave itself a chance of forcing a contest.

During the chase, the departure of Blizzard, Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma proved to be a setback for the home team, leaving James Franklin the task of playing a cautious innings and taking his team to a hard-earned win for the second time in as many matches.

Harbhajan Singh hit the winning shot — a six over mid-wicket off left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan.

MI now plays Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chennai on Friday for a spot in the final.

After KKR was put in to bat, Gautam Gambhir, opening with Jacques Kallis, seemed determined to take up the challenge.

However, he made the error of employing the horizontal bat against Harbhajan Singh and paid the price. This was the first sign of MI taking control of the proceedings. Gambhir's dismissal in the third over was the beginning of a phase that marked KKR's swift decline.

Tendulkar showed fine judgment at mid-off to hold on to a dipping catch that had come off an uppish drive from Jacques Kallis against Munaf Patel, who was returning to the bowling line-up after being benched in the last league match at the Eden Gardens.

When Dhawal Kulkarni won an appeal from umpire Simon Taufel against Manoj Tiwary, Tendulkar's decision to bowl first seemed to be vindicated.

It was the advent of ten Doeschate, a high value pick at the auction, that initially provided a glimmer of hope for KKR to post a total on the board the home team would look at with some anxiety.

From a grim 20 for four, Yusuf Pathan curbed his attacking instincts as his partner made heavy connection with ball and found runs in fours and sixes.

The Pathan-ten Doeschate combination staged a smart recovery adding 60 runs off 45 balls, before Kieron Pollard, fleet of foot, covered a 20-yard distance to his left from long-on and plucked a catch to terminate a potentially explosive undertaking from Pathan.

After that, Al Hasan — promoted ahead of Rajat Bhatia — hit firmly and sliced a few to bring up the second-highest stand of the KKR innings.

Playing in only his sixth match and on his third visit to the crease, ten Doeschate played authentic cricketing shots, extracted heavy penalty of the loose balls, converted some of the good ones and scored almost half of Kolkata Knight Riders's 147.

He may have survived at 38 when Rayudu fumbled with a leg-side stumping, but one can hardly fault the part-time wicketkeeper.

Scoreboard

Kolkata Knight Riders: G. Gambhir b Harbhajan 4 (8b, 1 x 4), J. Kallis c Tendulkar b Patel 7 (7b, 1 x 4), S. Goswami c Rayudu b Patel 0 (3b), M. Tiwary lbw b Kulkarni 4 (7b), Yusuf Pathan c Pollard b Patel 26 (24b, 3 x 4), R. ten Doeschate (not out) 70 (49b, 6 x 4, 3 x 6), Shakib Al Hasan b Malinga 26 (16b, 4 x 4), R. Bhatia (run out) 2 (3b), B. Lee (not out) 2 (3b); Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-4): 6; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 147.

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-13, 3-15, 4-20, 5-80, 6-121, 7-131.

Mumbai Indians bowling: Kulkarni 4-0-32-1, Patel 4-0-27-3, Harbhajan 4-0-26-1, Malinga 4-0-19-1, Franklin 1-0-10-0, Pollard 3-0-31-0.

Mumbai Indians: A. Blizzard c Abdulla b Lee 51 (30b, 7 x 4, 2 x 6), S. Tendulkar c Tiwary b Kallis 36 (28b, 6 x 4), Rohit Sharma (run out) 0 (0b), A. Rayudu c Goswami b Kallis 12 (16b, 2 x 4), J. Franklin (not out) 29 (25b, 2 x 4), K. Pollard lbw b Hasan 3 (5b), T. Suman c Tiwary b Hasan 2 (7b), Harbhajan Singh (not out) 11 (5b, 1 x 4, 1 x 6); Extras (lb-3, w-1): 4; Total (for six wkts. in 19.2 overs): 148.

Fall of wickets: 1-81, 2-82, 3-92, 4-103, 5-123, 6-133.

Kolkata Knight Riders bowling: Lee 4-0-37-1, Abdulla 3-0-23-0, Pathan 2-0-18-0, Shakib 3.2-0-24-2, Bhatia 1-0-9-0, Kallis 4-0-18-2, Balaji 2-0-16-0.

Man-of-the-match: Munaf Patel.

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