Fiery Malinga takes Mumbai to final
Lasith Malinga produced plenty of fire and brimstone to take the Mumbai Indians to the final of the Champions League T20, taking 4-20 to deliver victory by 10 runs in the semifinal against Somerset in Chepauk yesterday
Chasing a gettable 161, Somerset got off to a torrid start as opener Peter Trego had his stumps rattled by a searing Malinga yorker off the second ball of the innings. Roelof van der Merwe, coming in at number three, suffered a similar fate in the Sri Lankan firebrand's next over, this time a low full toss inflicting the damage.
The duo of Craig Kieswetter and James Hildreth then came together to wrest control of the game away from Mumbai, adding 83 runs in 10.3 overs, before Hildreth was bowled by captain Harbhajan Singh for 39.
The match took another turn in the 17th over bowled by Abu Nechim, with Kieswetter creaming a 6 and two 4s to collect 16, bringing the equation down to 29 from the last three overs.
In the penultimate over bowled by James Franklin, Jos Butler was bowled immediately after having a sure boundary denied by the ball crashing into non-striker Kieswetter's ribs. Franklin then made it a double whammy by getting danger man Kieswetter caught at long on for 62, before Nick Compton reverse-swept the last ball for four, leaving Somerset needing 15 off the last over.
It was never a likely scenario with the red-hot Malinga bowling, and Compton duly had his stumps splayed off the second ball trying to scoop a yorker. The next ball was another toe-crusher, with the victim being Murali Kartik. Somerset only managed to score 3 runs off the remaining 3 balls.
Earlier, Mumbai hammered 52 runs off the last five overs to reach 160 for 5. Harbhajan won the toss and chose to bat, and his decision was vindicated as Aiden Blizzard and No.3 batsman Ambati Rayudu carried the score to 62 in 7.5, before Rayudu was caught behind off medium-pacer Adam Dibble. Franklin then joined the in-form opener, but both went in quick succession as Franklin was trapped in front by van der Merwe with the score on 86 and Blizzard was bowled by Murali Kartik six runs later for a well-made 54 off 39 balls.
With the score on 4-92 in the 13th over Kieron Pollard came in and hit two 6s in an 18-ball 24. His dismissal at 117 brought Suryakumar Yadav and Rajagopal Sathish together. Yadav scored 23 off 19 and Sathish was particularly explosive with a 12-ball 25 to provide the final flourish.
Mumbai will play Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final tonight.
SCORES IN BRIEF
MUMBAI INDIANS: 160 for 5 (Blizzard 54, Sathish 25 not out; Dibble 1-20, Kartik 1-30)
SOMERSET: 150 for 7 (Kieswetter 62, Hildreth 39; Malinga 4-20)
Result: Mumbai Indians won by 10 runs.
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