drian Blizzard’s blistering half century at the top and a six by Harbhajan Singh in the final over carried Mumbai Indians to a four-wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League Eliminator here Wednesday.Mumbai Indians almost made a mess of a cracking start provided by Blizzard (51 runs off 30 balls) and captain Sachin Tendulkar (36 off 28) but managed to chase the 148-run target with four balls to spare.
They now face Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai Friday for a spot in the final. By the virtue of this win, Mumbai Indians became the third Indian team to qualify for the Champions League later this year.
Needing seven runs off the last over, Harbhajan (11 off 5) hit Shakib Al Hasan for a six over mid-wicket to seal the issue for the home team.
The match went down the wire but at one stage Mumbai Indians looked set to overcome the total easily with Blizzard and Tendulkar taking the total to 81 inside eight overs. Blizaard’s dismissal got Rohit Sharma to crease. The talented Indian batsman went for a suicidal run and went back without facing a ball.
Panic set in as Tendulkar and Ambathi Rayudu (12) departed in quick succession with the team still needing 42 from the last seven overs.
But James Franklin (29 off 25), the hero of the last match against the same team, once again proved his mettle and with able support from Harbhajan got the team home.
Earlier, the Knight Riders were left reeling at 20 for four with the in-form trio of Jacques Kallis (7), Gautam Gambhir (4) and Manoj Tiwary (4) back in the hut. Munaf Patel (3 for 27) inflicted the maximum damage for the Mumbai Indians and took his tally to 20 wickets in the tournament.
Ryan ten Doeschate (70 off 49) along with Yusuf Pathan (26) and Shakib Al Hasan (26) resurrected the Knight Riders” innings and stayed till the end to take the team to a fighting total.
Doeschate, who had been in and out of the playing eleven throughout the season, played a fluent innings and proved just why a lot of franchises were keen to buy him in the auction.
The Netherlands all-rounder stuck six fours and sent three over the ropes in his 49-ball knock.