Mumbai edge past Kolkata in last-ball finish

Mumbai Indians 178 for 5 (Franklin 45*, Tendulkar 38, Bhatia 3-22) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 175 for 7 (Kallis 59, Yusuf 36, Tiwary 35) by five wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	James Franklin followed up his two wickets with a match-winning 45 © Associated Press Enlarge
Related Links Matches: Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians at Kolkata Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League Teams: India | Kolkata Knight Riders | Mumbai Indians

Kolkata Knight Riders had their Champions League debut all but booked when they began the last over with 21 to defend. Three edged boundaries off L Balaji and two missed yorkers later, James Franklin and Ambati Rayudu had seen Mumbai Indians to a highly unlikely win, breaking their three-match losing streak. The win set up a repeat clash between the two teams in the eliminator, an equivalent of a quarter-final.

In all the chaos of the last over, which stunned the full house at Eden Gardens, Chennai Super Kings emerged the biggest gainers. Had Kolkata won the game, which they should have despite all those edges, Chennai would have finished third, and would have had to win two games in order to make the final. Now they need win only one of the two.

Match Meter MI Kolkata lose two early Mumbai strike early to reduce Kolkata to 22 for 2, including Gautam Gambhir's wicket. KKR Tiwary, Yusuf counterattack With Jacques Kallis solid around them, Manoj Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan attack Mumbai to take Kolkata to 124 for 4 after 16 overs. KKR Kallis assaults late Kallis goes from 40 off 37 to 59 off 42 to give Kolkata a big finish. KKRMI Tendulkar, Harbhajan chip away Sachin Tendulkar and a promoted Harbhajan Singh keep up with the asking rate, taking Mumbai to 70 for 1 in eight overs. KKR Bhatia strikes Rajat Bhatia takes three wickets in three overs to reduce Mumbai to96 for 4 in the 13th over. MI The last over Mumbai need 21 off the last over, but Franklin and Rayudu manage it through a mix of edges and held nerves. Advantage Honours even

Mumbai gained too: they needed to finish the chase off in 5.1 overs to make it to the top two, but by beating Kolkata they could have ensured a psychological advantage in their eliminator. For the best part of their 19 overs of batting, Mumbai scarcely looked like a team that could do so. Iqbal Abdulla removed T Suman in the second over, the pinch-hitter Harbhajan Singh managed 30 off 29, and Rajat Bhatia's leg-rollers broke the batting order's back with thee wickets in three overs.

At 96 for 4 in the 13th over, it seemed too much was left for Kieron Pollard and Franklin. Pollard lived up to that expectation, but Franklin kept the fight up mostly with well-placed couples. A six and a four in between meant Mumbai were not completely out of it even when Balaji ripped Pollard's leg stump out with 40 required off 15.

If this was robbery in broad floodlights, Kolkata weren't the most vigilant victims either. As much as the edged boundaries in the last over, Kolkata will also look back at little moments towards the end that proved to be decisive. Balaji bowled a wide with one ball left in the 18th over, and Ambati Rayudu lofted the compensation delivery over extra cover for a six. It wouldn't be Rayudu's last six of the night.

The last ball of the 19th over hit Rayudu in the pad and rolled towards the keeper. The batsmen had all but stolen a leg-bye when wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami went for a direct hit, and conceded an overthrow. That kept Franklin - 28 off 18 now - on strike for the last over. L Balaji went for a wide yorker first ball, and a thick edge off the low full toss went between the keeper and the short third man. A slower bouncer followed, and the tope edge cleared the keeper again. Thirteen off four now looked so much more gettable.

Balaji went back to the wide-yorker plan, and Franklin smacked the next low full toss past extra cover for four. Under pressure and in the face of some ill luck, Balaji was just not landing them right. The next ball was a low, wide full toss again, and another thick edge beat third man to make it five of two. The next low full toss found extra cover, and brought Kolkata some relief. However, just then Balaji chose to bowl the worst delivery of the over - a high full toss on the pads - and Rayudu helped himself to his second, and decisive, six.

The stunned Eden gardens crowd could scarcely believe what they were seeing after they had cheered their team all night to what looked like a comfortable win. Most of it was thanks to Jacques Kallis who batted solidly at first and rapaciously towards the end. Along the way he was helped by breezy 30s from Manoj Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan, but it was Kallis who provided the innings the final impetus with 19 off the last five balls he faced. It was fitting then that the man who minimised the damage with the wickets of Kallis and Yusuf was none other than Franklin. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

India keep shaky New Zealand to 224

New Zealand 224 for 9 (Franklin 72*, Zaheer 2-31) v India

	In pic: Zaheer Khan didn't take long to find form after returning from an injury layoff

New Zealand's one-day woes continued into a ninth straight game as their batting failed to cope with moist early-morning conditions in Vadodara. Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel swung and seamed the ball all right, but New Zealand will look back at how unremarkable their response was. The openers gifted their wickets, the middle order went into a shell, and only a fighting 94-run eighth-wicket stand between James Franklin and Nathan McCullum rendered respectability to their effort.

New Zealand would have been far worse off had Kane Williamson and Scott Styris not survived plumb lbw shouts early on the innings. The two calls got New Zealand 42 extra runs.

Zaheer returned to the side to find a welcome mat laid out by Brendon McCullum, who guided a widish delivery straight to second slip. Martin Guptill, who looked the most at ease, ran himself out soon. He hit straight to Gautam Gambhir, who had placed himself halfway between the stumps and the 30-yard circle, and ran off for a suicidal single.

Between those two dismissals, Williamson set the template for the day. His front foot went across to the first ball he faced. It swing in down the leg side to be called a wide, but Williamson had fallen over trying to correct the movement. Neither Williamson nor Ross Taylor could get rid of that tendency during their short stays. Taylor's wicket, though, came in a tame fashion as he went to drive Zaheer. The shot was played away from his body, and an inside edge ensued.

Taylor's No. 4 position has been a matter of debate with observers stating he should take more responsibility and bat at No. 3. Williamson's lack of ability to counterattack only seemed to highlight the notion. For the third game running, Williamson got off to a slow start, and did little to hit Munaf off his plan.

Munaf loves to bowl back of a length, just outside off, and wobble the bowl slightly either way. However, he tends to get a bit rattled when somebody uses that predictability to come down and hit him. In this series, though, no one has come close to doing that. And once Williamson allowed Munaf to do what he wanted, that lbw call seemed a matter of time with the batsman regularly falling over.

Once again, Styris was the most purposeful New Zealand batsman. He might have enjoyed two strokes of good luck, but he showed some intent, hitting Ashish Nehra for two boundaries through the covers in the 17th over.

Modern captains tend to go into the containment mode once the 15th over ends irrespective of how many wickets they might have got. Gambhir, who had put New Zealand in, was refreshingly old-school. When he saw R Ashwin turn the first ball, he set Test-match fields for Styris and James Franklin. Yuvraj, at leg slip, soon came into action taking a sharp low catch to send Styris back. Daniel Vettori followed did a McCullum, guiding Yusuf Pathan straight to slip for another sharp catch for Yuvraj, who later moved to leg slip to get rid of Gareth Hopkins too.

Having fallen behind the over-rate, though, Gambhir omitted to use four of Zaheer and Nehra's overs. Facing part-time spinners on a pitch that had eased out a bit, Franklin and N. McCullum had little trouble building a partnership. For about 14 overs, the bowlers didn't go out of their way to take wickets, and the batsman didn't go out of their way to score runs. That shouldn't take away from the batsmen: they could only face what was being bowled at them.

In the 45th over, they called for the Powerplay, but Gambhir still kept back the two fast bowlers. It was almost as if he was not concerned at all by the growing partnership. Eight came off the first Poweplay over, nine off the second, 14 off the third, but Gambhir brought back the fast bowlers only for the last two overs.

Franklin, responsible for much of the damage in the Powerplay, ended up with his first ODI fifty.