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Mumbai Indians got the better of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL Eliminator in front of an appreciative home crowd at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. The match went to the wire but Harbhajan Singh and James Franklin held their nerve when it really mattered to take Mumbai pas the finish line with 4 balls to spare. Kolkata had a very poor start to the match and slumped to 20 for 4 but came back brilliantly to notch up a competitive 147 with Ryan ten Doeschate top scoring with 70. Mumbai blazed away in response with an opening stand of 81 but Kolkata refused to die and took the match to as late as the last over but the total just wasn't enough in the end. A disappointed Kolkata caught the early ride home while Mumbai moved ahead to face Bangalore in the second qualifier on Friday.

After an enthralling encounter just three days ago, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, were ready to battle it out in what was effectively a quarter-final match. The match was extremely important, not just because it was a knockout game, but also because of the highly lucrative Champions League spot on offer for the winner. Mumbai came into this game high on confidence after their last ball win over the Knight Riders, but they were unlikely to forget that Kolkata had dominated the game till the very last over when some super clean hitting swung the match Mumbai's way.

Sachin Tendulkar won the toss for Mumbai and decided to field first, deciding to go against the old fashioned principle of runs on the board in a high pressure game. Gautam Gambhir wasn't too disappointed and said that "nerves" would determine the outcome. He showed confidence in his side and went into the game with same 11 as their previous meeting. On the other hand, Mumbai Indians despite winning the last game made 3 changes (although Sachin said at the toss that they had made 4). Aiden Blizzard was back to open with Tendulkar, while Munaf Patel and Dhawal Kulkarni too returned to bolster the pace arsenal.

After a watchful first over, Jacques Kallis played a classy drive through the covers off Munaf Patel to get Kolkata going. But in an effort to repeat the stroke, Kallis (7) holed to Tendulkar, who made an excellent effort to take the catch. Sreevats Goswami was sent in at no.3 and Tendulkar brought on Harbhajan Singh with two left-handers in the middle. Harbhajan struck straight away getting the important wicket of Gautam Gambhir for just 4. Munaf then made it three wickets in as many overs as he sent back Goswami for a duck. Kolkata were falling like a pack of cards and the return of Dhawal Kulkarni in the sixth over brought Mumbai the wicket of the dangerous Manoj Tiwary for just 4. Ryan ten Doeschate joined Yusuf Pathan in the middle and all of Kolkata's hopes rested on the duo. At 25 for 4, it was Kolkata's worst start in this year's IPL and they needed a big partnership to post a competitive total for Mumbai.

In the midst of all the damage loomed the prospect of Lasith Malinga. The IPL's highest wicket taker had yet to bowl a ball in this match and was desperate to get in on the action. A charged up Malinga stormed into bowl the 7th over and was seriously clocking up some high speeds, often in excess of 150 kmph.

Ten Doeschate wasn't looking his fluent self but he managed to get going, pulling James Franklin for a six. Pathan meanwhile looked to rotate the strike opting to play sensible cricket and bide his time. Ten Doeschate continued to be the more aggressive, taking on Pollard in the 11th over and clearing the ropes comfortably. Pathan joined in the attack and hit his first boundary in the same over, which contributed 15 to the Kolkata cause. The 50 partnership came up off just 37 balls as the duo gained some momentum. But just as Kolkata were starting to get a foothold in the match, disaster struck with Munaf removing Pathan for 26 (24b). The wicket meant that Kolkata had to start once again as Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan made his way to the middle.

Shakib was quick to get in the mix of the things and hit three consecutive boundaries off Kulkarni that took Kolkata past the 100 mark. Shakib seemed calm and composed even in the tough situation and brought all his experience to use. However, his innings was cut short by a till then wicket-less Malinga who knocked the Bangla man over for 26 (16b).

Ten Doeschate meanwhile reached his 50 and had his task cut out for the last few overs. The Mumbai Indians also had slight cause for concern as they had bowled out all their experienced bowlers but still had 2 overs that needed to be made up. Ten Doeschate struck Kulkarni for a boundary on the first ball of the penultimate over, but lost the strike subsequently. Rajat Bhatia sacrificed his wicket to bring the Dutchman back on strike. However, Dhawal recovered well to keep the over down to just 9.

Kieron Pollard had the task of bowling the last over and did reasonably well to keep it down to 13 after being hit for a six early in the over. Ten Doeschate remained unbeaten on 70 off just 49 balls and was the star of the Kolkata fightback. The Knight Riders eventually finished with 147, a low score compared to yesterday's qualifier, but it was more than they would have imagined having been 20 odd for 4. Mumbai would have been delighted with their bowling performance but needed to finish the job with a tidy performance with the bat.

Aiden Blizzard looked in ominous form and got Mumbai off to a flyer, smashing a boundary twice in the opening over from Brett Lee. Gambhir decided to change track to spin and brought Iqbal Abdulla and Yusuf Pathan into the attack. After seeing a few deliveries out patiently, Blizzard took on Abdulla and Mumbai were up and running again. Tendulkar joined Blizzard in the assault and hit Pathan for 4 successive boundaries, taking Mumbai past 50 in just the 5th over. Blizzard was doing a "Gayle" as he hit two more boundaries off Shakib to end the powerplay on a high for Mumbai. Mumbai got to 62 in just 6 overs and the game was very much theirs to lose.

There was no stopping Blizzard as he hit the first six of the innings off Bhatia. Blizzard reached his 50 off just 29 balls smashing Lee out of the park but Kolkata finally got the much needed break-through as Blizzard holed out when on 51. Blizzard though had done his job and at 82/1 from 8 overs the match should have been as good as over.

It wasn't! Kolkata had a bit of luck as Rohit Sharma was run out without facing a ball and the Knight Riders sensed a chance when Tendulkar (36) top-edged a bouncer from Kallis leaving Mumbai at 92 for 3. The 100 of the innings came up in the 13th over but Kallis struck once again as Rayadu (12) squandered the opportunity to take his team home. The match was still very much in Mumbai's grasp as they needed just 34 off the last 6 but Kolkata had been given a lifeline and they were fighting for every run.

Franklin was brimming with confidence after the match winning knock at Eden and did pretty well to keep the scoreboard ticking. Shakib brought joy to Kolkata with the wickets of Pollard (3) and Tirumalsetti Suman (2) in consecutive overs and Mumbai were left with the uncomfortable situation of needing 15 to win from the last 2 overs.

Mumbai wouldn't have thought that the match would go this far when the openers were on song an hour back, but they had just the man for the situation in Harbhajan Singh to get them through. The Turbanator struck a boundary on the first ball of the penultimate over, leaving Mumbai with 7 to win from the last over. Kolkata risked tossing the ball to Shakib, but Harbhajan settled the game with one powerful swing, depositing him in the stands to take his side home with 4 balls to spare. Harbhajan's 11-run cameo and Franklin's composed innings of 29 had seen them past the finish line.

Kolkata Knight Riders head out of the tournament and will be very disappointed after having come so close to the finals. They also miss out on making their debut in the Champions League but will know that they are a much more competitive unit now and will be a pleasure to watch next season. 

Mumbai Indians have the momentum going once again with the two wins against Kolkata and will look forward to taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai two days from now. They beat RCB by 9 wickets in their only previous meeting this season, though that win counts for naught as it was before Chris Gayle landed on Bengaluru shores.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Jacques Kallis, Sreevats Goswami(wk), Gautam Gambhir(c), Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Rajat Bhatia, Shakib Al Hasan, Brett Lee, Laxmipathi Balaji, Iqbal Abdulla.

Mumbai Indians: Aiden Blizzard, Sachin Tendulkar(c), Ambati Rayudu(wk), Rohit Sharma, Keiron Pollard, James Franklin, Tirumalsetti Suman, Harbhajan Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Munaf Patel, Lasith Malinga.

Mini Scorecard:

Kolkata Knight Riders 147/7 in 20 overs(7.35 runs per over)
R ten Doeschate 70*(49) M Patel 3-27
S Al  Hasan 26(16) L Malinga 1-19

Mumbai Indians 148/6 in 19.2 overs (7.65 runs per over)
A Blizzard 51(30) J Kallis 2-18
S Tendulkar 36(28) S Al Hasan 2-24

Mumbai Indians win by 4 wickets with 4 balls remaining

File Photograph Copyright:·Gayatri Naik

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