Mumbai Indians snatched a five-wicket victory, from the jaws of what looked like a certain defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders, in the final league match of the IPL-IV at the Eden Gardens on Sunday to ensure defending champion Chennai Super Kings the second spot.
The win lifted MI to third spot with 18 points, relegating the home side (16 points) to fourth. In the play-offs, CSK will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore and the winner will go through to the final. The loser of that game will take on the winner of MI and KKR in the second eliminator.
Everything went as per the script for KKR till the 19th over. With MI needing 21 runs off the final over bowled by L. Balaji, James Franklin smashed the first four balls for fours and took a single off the fifth ball, thus giving the strike to Ambati Rayudu. Balaji's full toss was dispatched beyond backward square-leg boundary to give MI a famous victory. MI ended the game at 178 for five chasing 175 for seven scored by KKR.
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Franklin was adjudged the Man of the Match.
The Mumbai outfit made two great moves, sending in Harbhajan Singh (30, 29b) as a pinch hitter and held back Rayudu to come and finish off the game. Sachin Tendulkar held together the top order with a 38 (27b) 38.
Put in, KKR began disastrously, losing its first wicket — that of pint-sized Shreevats Goswami — cheaply to a bad mix up.
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A bigger shock awaited the home side when its captain Guatam Gambhir departed.
Manoj Tiwary joined Jacques Kallis and the two played sensibly. The two added 45 runs for the third wicket in 5.3 overs. Yusuf Pathan, coming in next, took over the scoring.
A late order charge by Ryan ten Doeschate (18) and Rajat Bhatia (11) made sure KKR ended at a healthy score.
Scorecard
Kolkata Knight Riders: J. Kallis c Suman b Franklin 59 (42b, 4x4, 3x6), S. Goswami (run out) 1 (3b), G. Gambhir b Ahmed 8 (7b, 1x6), M. Tiwary (run out) 35 (22b, 5x4, 1x6), Yusuf Pathan c Ahmed b Franklin 36 (27b, 4x4, 1x6), R. ten Doeschate lbw b Ahmed 18 (12b, 1x4, 1x6), R. Bhatia (run out) 11 (6b, 2x4), S. Al Hasan (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-3): 6; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 175.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-22, 3-67, 4-124, 5-149, 6-166, 7-175.
Mumbai Indians bowling: Ahmed 4-0-32-2, Malinga 4-0-23-0, Harbhajan 3-0-26-0, Price 3-0-33-0, Pollard 2-0-23-0, Franklin 4-0-35-2.
Mumbai Indians: T. Suman c Pathan b Abdulla 4 (4b, 1x4), S. Tendulkar c Gambhir b Bhatia 38 (27b, 6x4), Harbhajan Singh c Tiwary b Bhatia 30 (29b, 5x4), Rohit Sharma c Goswami b Bhatia 10 (9b, 1x4), K. Pollard b Balaji 18 (22b, 2x4), J. Franklin (not out) 45 (23b, 5x4, 1x6), A. Rayudu (not out) 17 (6b, 2x6); Extras (lb-9, w-7): 16; Total (for five wkts. in 20 overs): 178.
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-70, 3-85, 4-96, 5-137.
Knight Riders bowling: Lee 4-0-37-0, Abdulla 4-0-26-1, Shakib 4-0-26-0, Balaji 3-0-51-1, Pathan 1-0-7-0, Bhatia 4-0-22-3.
Man-of-the-match: James Franklin.