IPL-4 (25th May): Mumbai edge out Kolkata in tense finish
By Team Bellevision
Bellevision Media Network
Mumbai, 25 May 2011: Harbhajan Singh smashed Shakib Al Hasan for a six in the last over of the match as Mumbai Indians won the IPL-4 Eliminator against Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets at the Wankhede stadium on Wednesday. Mumbai will now lock horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday in qualifier-II, the winner of which will take on defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the summit clash on Saturday.
The victory was set up by the Mumbai bowlers, who exploited the slow Wankhede track well and put their side in the driver’s seat by restricting Kolkata to 147 for seven. Mumbai seemed to be cruising towards a comfortable victory before a flurry of wickets allowed the Knight Riders to stage a late fightback.
The wickets of Ambati Rayudu and Keiron Rayudu to dodgy umpiring decisions turned the tide in Kolkata’s favour before Harbhajan and James Franklin (29 off 25 balls) settled the issue in Mumbai’s favour. Sachin Tendulkar (36) and Aiden Blizzard (51) got the Mumbai Indians off to a flying start before the latter fell to Brett Lee.
Blizzard’s dismissal was soon followed by the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Mumbai skipper Sachin Tendulkar which allowed Kolkata to claw their way back into the match. Earlier, Ryan ten Doeschate combined with Yusuf Pathan (26) to raise a 60-run stand for the fifth wicket to resurrect their innings, which was in tatters by losing quick four wickets.
Doeschate then found an able ally in Shakib al-Hasan (26) as the duo put on 41 runs for the sixth wicket to further improve the health of their innings. The Knight Riders had lost openers Jacques Kallis (7) and captain Gautam Gambhir (4) in the second and third over respectively to slump to 13 for two.
Kallis hit a glorious cover driven four off Patel but perished in the next ball as his uppish drive was taken well by rival captain Sachin Tendulkar. Gambhir, who was playing in the match despite reports that he might skip it due to a shoulder injury, started confidently with a step-out loft for four but was bowled by Harbhajan.
More trouble was in store for Kolkata as Shreevats Goswami was caught behind in the second over of Patel and soon they were 20 for 4 with the departure of leading run-getter Manoj Tiwary (4) in the sixth over. Tiwary was trapped leg before with an angled-in delivery by Dhawal Kulkarni to put Mumbai right on top. Yusuf Pathan played carefully in the company of Doeschate, who released some of the pressure with a six off James Franklin, the first of the innings, in the eighth over.
Kieron Pollard was hit for 15 runs in the 11th over with Doeschate hoisting him for his second six over long on and a four before Pathan smashed the West Indian over his head for his first four. Pathan, having decided to go on an all-out attack, hammered Harbhajan straight and top edged Munaf for fours in successive overs to up the tempo. But just when he started to look dangerous, Pathan got rid off him once again through a great running catch by Pollard, who ran 25 yards to his left at long on and completed the catch in over number 13.
Doeschate escaped a leg side stumping chance off Harbhajan in the 14th over and then swung the next ball to the square leg fence. New batsman Shakib Al Hasan took the attack to the rivals soon after arriving to the crease by crashing three successive fours off Kulkarni to bring up KKR’s 100 in the 15th over. Shakib struck four fours in his 16-ball cameo before dragging the ball from Lasith Malinga back on to his stumps. Towards the end Doeschate added vital runs and carted Pollard for a six and a four in the final over to give the innings the final flourish.
Match Summary
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| Batting: Mumbai Indians Innings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Fall Of Wickets | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1/81 (Aiden Blizzard, 7.5 ov.), 2/82 (Rohit Sharma, 8.2 ov.), 3/92 (Sachin Tendulkar, 10.5 ov.), 4/103 (Ambati Rayudu, 12.5 ov.), 5/123 (Kieron Pollard, 15.4 ov.), 6/133 (Tirumalsetti Suman, 17.6 ov.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling: Kolkata Knight Riders | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Batting: Kolkata Knight Riders Innings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Fall Of Wickets | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1/9 (Jacques Kallis, 1.4 ov.), 2/13 (Gautam Gambhir, 2.5 ov.), 3/15 (Shreevats Goswami, 3.2 ov.), 4/20 (Manoj Tiwary, 5.3 ov.), 5/80 (Yusuf Pathan, 12.6 ov.), 6/121 (Shakib Al Hasan, 17.1 ov.), 7/131 (Rajat Bhatia, 18.2 ov.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling: Mumbai Indians | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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