Chennai, October 08: It’s quality that counts in tight matches. If it was Chris Gayle’s belligerence in Bangalore on Friday, on Saturday it was Lasith Malinga’s party at the near-empty Chepauk. He got two vital Somerset wickets first up and when the Sri Lankan paceman came on to bowl the last over, Somerset needed 15.
Scorecard | Match in Pics
Malinga (4-20) struck with his second and third balls, both trademark yorkers, and Mumbai Indians were in the final with a 10-run win. They will face Royal Challengers Bangalore in Sunday’s title clash.
When the chase started, 161 was not out of bounds and Somerset were looking for a decent start. But Malinga fired in one his specials, and Peter Trego had no answer.
A couple of overs later, Roelf Van der Merwe couldn’t get his bat down to another Malinga yorker and the damage was done. On a pitch where runs off the new ball are a must, Somerset struggled in the first few overs and that made things really tough for the English side.
Craig Kieswetter and James Hildreth, though, were not ready to throw in the towel easily. The duo kept their composure and put up 83 runs off 63 balls.
Just when they had started looking a little too dangerous, Harbhajan Singh removed Hildreth, tilting the balance in favour of Mumbai Indians yet again. Kieswetter didn’t give up and 17 runs in the 17th over gave them hope, but James Franklin dismissed him a little later to take Mumbai closer.
Earlier, the lower-middle order of the Indian side held firm as they reached 160-5. Just as Somerset were looking to tighten the screws, Chennai’s own R Sathish and Mumbai batsman Suryakumar Yadav were involved in a vital 43-run sixth-wicket partnership off 22 balls.
Sathish, who knows all about the conditions at the Chepauk, made use of his experience and came up with a vital 25 off 12 balls which put Mumbai in a good position.
He looked to play the innovative shots, stroked a few over cover and connected a few reverse sweeps of the pacemen to manufacture some quick runs.
Yadav, who played his first game for Mumbai in the tournament, too held fort, giving Sathish good company and helping justify Harbhajan Singh’s decision to bat first.
Aiden Blizzard, too, had done his bit, getting Mumbai off to a good start with a 39-ball 54. He knew that the team needed somebody who could hold the innings together in the initial phases and he did that to perfection.
Blizzard kept looking for the big shots and hit a few through the line.
Teams:
Mumbai Indians: Harbhajan Singh (capt), AN Ahmed, AC Blizzard, YS Chahal, JEC Franklin, S Kanwar, SL Malinga, KA Pollard, AT Rayudu (wk), R Sathish, SA Yadav
Somerset: AC Thomas (capt), JC Buttler, NRD Compton, AJ Dibble, JC Hildreth, M Kartik, C Kieswetter (wk), SP Kirby, AV Suppiah, PD Trego, RE van der Merwe.
-Agencies