Mumbai Indians win big moments and the semi-final

Mumbai Indians 160 for 5 (Blizzard 54, Sathish 25*) beat Somerset 150 for 7 (Kieswetter 62, Hildreth 39, Malinga 4-20, Franklin 2-16) by 10 runs

Suryakumar Yadav was impressive on his return from injury © Associated Press

Mumbai Indians refuse to go away. Missing half their side, struggling to put an XI on the field, courting controversy every step of the way, they have still managed to win most of the big moments they have encountered to make it to the final of the Champions League.

MI won all the decisive moments of the night. They ran away at the top through Aiden Blizzard's 54 off 39. They scored 52 off their last five, after the middle overs slowed them down, through a 43-run stand off 22 between the unheralded R Sathish and Suryakumar Yadav. Lasith Malinga then took out Somerset's two biggest batsmen of the tournament with devilish yorkers and changes of pace. And when Craig Kieswetter threatened to mastermind a cool chase, with the MI fielders blundering all around him, Malinga and James Franklin defended - just as coolly - 28 runs in the last three overs.

MI chose a fine time to put up their best batting effort of the tournament. On a pitch that was slow but much better than the mud-wrestling arena it had been in the earlier stages of the tournament, Blizzard did what their opponents have been doing: capitalise with the hard new ball. He enjoyed the pace on it, and tried to make use of all quick length balls. Adam Dibble came on and took the pace off with his cutters, but Blizzard was quick to spot whenever he bowled quick. Off the 20 runs that Dibble conceded in his four overs, Blizzard took 10 in two hits, both off quick and full deliveries. One of his other sixes came off a free hit, but that was about all the luck he enjoyed.

Somerset's left-arm spinners, though, pulled things back with the wickets of both the threatening men, Blizzard and Franklin. Blizzard had in particular been frustrated, with only 20 coming off the last 18 balls he faced. With MI 92 for 4 in the 13th over, it seemed it was all about Pollard. It couldn't have seemed more wrong. After Pollard flattered and deceived, Sathish and Yadav gave MI a target to bowl at.

The two men don't enjoy what can be termed a flattering history with the IPL side. It has often been said that Sathish wouldn't even make the side but for the injuries. One of those "injured" players was Yadav, whose injury had allowed MI five overseas players but whose subsequent playing for other teams had brought MI embarrassment. Now back ahead of the unimpressive Andrew Symonds, he put together a busy partnership with Sathish. Yadav tried the adventurous shots behind the stumps, and Sathish was more orthodox trying to drive down the ground, but it somehow worked a treat for them.

Whatever you say of the pitch, it doesn't matter to Malinga. Somerset have usually won games by hitting the new ball hard, and Peter Trego and Roelof van der Merwe have been the main destroyers at the top. Both of them fell to the genius of Malinga before they could make a contribution. A late outswinging yorker at the base of the off stump accounted for Trego, and a bewitching slower full toss that dipped on van der Merwe reduced Somerset to 17 for 2 after three overs.

Somerset refused to capitulate. Kieswetter played like a man who knew he would win the match if he took it deep. He was soon on that route, helped by the average fielding. He was missed on 31 and 50, and MI's part-time keeper Ambati Rayudu seemed to miss more than he collected. Kieswetter began the acceleration even as his associate James Hildreth fell with 61 left to score off 39.

Kieswetter knocked it around until it was 45 needed off four overs, two of which would be bowled by Malinga. He then took Abu Nechim Ahmed on and brought it down to 29 off three. Malinga now had to bowl two of the last three. No question of change of ends or plans if things went wrong. Perish the thought. Malinga responded with a seven-run over.

The over of the devil in this tournament, the 19th, was the event of the match. First off, Harbhajan Singh gambled by not only giving the ball to Franklin ahead of himself and Pollard, but also risked potential criticism that he was not prepared to bowl the big over himself. Harbhajan went with brain over heart, and Franklin responded too. The first ball was drilled wide of long-on. Only Pollard could have kept it from going for four. He did. The next ball was a sure four until it hit Kieswetter flush on, giving him no time to react and get out of the way. Jos Buttler would have thought he deserved eight off those two balls; he got two. Frustrated, he played the blind slog. Bowled.

Finally Kieswetter came back on strike to the fifth ball of the over. He had faced only six deliveries out of the last 27, batting with a man who went at a strike-rate of under 100. Now with 19 required off eight, six of which would be bowled by Malinga, Kieswetter had no choice. He went after this short-of-a-length ball, and top-edged. Game over. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

van der Merwe leads Somerset to tight win

Somerset 164 for 5 (van der Merwe 73, Trego 28) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 161 for 3 (Kallis 74*, Yusuf 39*, Gregory 2-9) by five wickets

Roelof van der Merwe excelled with bat and ball to lead Somerset past Kolkata © AFP

Jacques Kallis showed technical prowess, Yusuf Pathan great power, but the pugnacious Roelof van der Merwe mastered the slow and low track the best to help Somerset chase a daunting 162. Kolkata Knight Riders' late surge with both bat and ball made them work hard for the win, Kolkata looted 78 off the last six overs, and quick wickets meant Somerset had to struggle for 43 off their last seven.

Even when Kallis and Yusuf went berserk, van der Merwe was the only man to hold his own. He went for just 14 from the 18th and 20 overs despite two dropped catches, one of which went for four. With the bat in hand he was an absolute jack in the box, reverse-sweeping sixes, managing to mishit over the infield, drop-kicking his favourite cricketer Kallis over midwicket, late-cutting the spinners delicately, and scoring the third-fastest Champions league fifty.

It would have been easy for Somerset to feel disheartened after part-timer Arul Suppiah conceded 30 off the 15th over, or feel hard done by Brett Lee's getting away with clear overhead bouncers and Alfonso Thomas' being penalised for a border-line slower bouncer with Kallis down on his knees. Especially when Thomas followed that harsh call with a high full toss that Kallis duly deposited for a six.

Somerset, though, got stuck in. And like with the ball van, der Merwe was the man with the bat. He came in to bat when Iqbal Abdulla struck with the first ball off the second over, but dominated so much that Peter Trego managed only 23 out of a 105-run second-wicket stand. He began with an edge through the vacant first slip region, but proceeded to counter Abdulla and Shakib Al Hasan with lovely late-cutting. It frustrated Kolkata so much that Manoj Tiwary - wired up for live-time interviews - berated his spinners on air for not turning the ball at all. The reverse-swept six off Shakib worked a treat.

Kallis, who had worked hard in the first innings for his 74, was picked up for a six over midwicket and then upper-cut over the keeper's head. That it was his devotee hitting him out of the attack made it more interesting to watch. At that time Somerset had reached 107 in 10 overs, and all they needed was milking. Kolkata, though, weren't quite bovine, and Shakib brought them back. He dropped a caught-and-bowled from Trego but produced a direct-hit to run him out. The one from van der Merwe in the same over he gleefully accepted.

With two new batsmen in, the pitch was back to being a mud-wrestling arena. The ball held up from the middle of the pitch, and stroke-making was difficult again. Nick Compton, Arul Suppiah and Steve Snell kept their cool for long enough to see them through with two balls to spare.

It was similar sensible batting from Kallis that had kept Kolkata alive in the first quarter of the game. With Somerset bowlers using the slow track well and the fielders giving hardly anything away, Kallis had to use all his technique and judgement. It took him 39 deliveries to reach a strike-rate of 100. That was in the 14th over, when he hit his first six to take Kolkata to 82, off the 82nd legal delivery. In the next over, Thomas, the exemplary Somerset captain, gambled. He asked part-time spinner Suppiah to bowl. He was the seventh bowler used, and the run-rate of six an over then didn't suggest Somerset needed overs to be made up. Perhaps Thomas was greedy with the slow track now.

Yusuf seized the moment. He stood still, waited for the full flat deliveries and kept swinging to leg, hitting four consecutive sixes. Eighty-three had become 113 in one over, and clearly the fielding side, who had played smart cricket until then, was rattled. Catches were dropped, overthrows conceded, Kallis joined in in the fun too, but van der Merwe was still in their face. He would continue to be there with the bat too. © ESPN EMEA Ltd

Kolkata lose, but qualify alongside Somerset

Somerset 166 for 6 (Trego 70, van der Merwe 40) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 155 for 8 (ten Doeschate 46, van der Merwe 2-23) by 11 runs

	Ryan ten Doeschate could not carry Kolkata to a win, but he did enough to steer them into the CLT20's main draw © AFP

Somerset out-fielded and out-bowled Kolkata Knight Riders to push them to the brink of elimination, but an ice-cool Ryan ten Doeschate hauled them alongside their opponents into the main draw of the Champions League. Kolkata needed 153 to qualify after Somerset had waltzed to an imposing 166 for 6 and, at 57 for 4 in the 10th over, seemed to have lost the final spot to Ruhuna. ten Doeschate however pulled off a special heist to ensure there will be four IPL teams in the main draw.

Ruhuna ended up the biggest losers of the day, and Kolkata celebrated jubilantly despite falling short 12 of victory, but Somerset deserved the most praise. They arrived for the tournament bleary-eyed and dispirited, two days after losing their fifth domestic final in two years, and without many of their first-choice players. If they were knackered, they didn't show it: Peter Trego batted with freedom, Roelof van der Merwe was typically tigerish with bat and on the field, and the three-pronged spin attack was ruthless to the end.

Kolkata were at the other end of the spectrum, and their struggles were epitomised by the inability of Manoj Tiwary and Shreevats Goswami - batsmen bred on slow tracks - to force the pace against spin. That Kolkata had lost the in-form Manvinder Bisla and captain Jacques Kallis early did not help matters, and things became worse when the legspinner Max Waller disloged both Tiwary and Goswami. Thereafter, ten Doeschate owned the night.

He announced himself with a lofted drive that Nick Compton palmed over the ropes at long-off, but that was the closest he came to being dismissed. With the asking-rate hovering out of reach, he dabbed Trego through point before whipping Arul Suppiah over midwicket for six. Yusuf Pathan was surprisingly subdued in his brief stay, but by the time he exited it was clear that the wicket that mattered was at the other end.

Shakib Al Hasan's stay was ended by a blinder in the outfield from van der Merwe, who single-handedly underlined the difference in fielding standards between the sides. Rajat Bhatia then held his nerve in a 30-run stand that took Kolkata close, while ten Doeschate continued to produce the fireworks with an audacious whip over midwicket for his third six. Van der Merwe dismissed both batsmen in the final over, but it wasn't enough to stop Kolkata.

Earlier, Somerset showed they had better methods against spin than their county rivals Leicestershire had displayed earlier in the day. Trego went after Iqbal Abdulla despite not always managing to reach the flight, and his enterprise forced Jacques Kallis to rely on seamers more than he would have liked, a move that played into Somerset's hands.

They moved to 56 for 1 after eight overs, at which point Trego shifted gears against Bhatia's mind-numbingly predictable lack of pace. Trego lost his balance while pulling him for four before cutting late for another boundary. The next over went for 17 as van der Merwe exploded against a raft of long-hops from Yusuf. Jaidev Unadkat gave Kolkata some respite when he got van der Merwe pulling to midwicket, and James Hildreth with a slower ball, but Trego bustled along unfettered, scoring his boundaries with a series of correct strokes. Unadkat was drilled through the covers, Jacques Kallis pulled through midwicket, and the Kolkata shoulders began to droop in a hurry.

Trego was starved of strike a touch in the end overs, but it did not seem to matter as Compton ramped Lee for six and stole a found a couple of inventive boundaries. More importantly for Somerset, Kolkata stayed generous right to the last over, with Unadkat making a hash of a regulation save at midwicket, and Lee getting a wicket of a no-ball. Kolkata's fielders had done themselves no favours, but the itinerary that gave them the chance to play the last innings of the qualifier stage was about to.

© ESPN EMEA Ltd

Strauss shines as Somerset dominate in draw

Somerset 425 for 3 dec (Suppiah 156, Compton 88, Strauss 78) and 260 for 2 dec (Strauss 109*, Trego 85*) drew with Indians 224 (Raina 103*, Willoughby 6-76) and 69 for 0

	Suresh Raina's sparkling ton was the only bright spot for India in Taunton © Getty Images

If the forthcoming Test series goes well for Andrew Strauss and England, Somerset should be top of his Christmas card list. After finding form in the first innings, he made the most of his second knock with an unbeaten 109 as India were left with precious little to take from the match other than Suresh Raina's 103 earlier on the final day.

However, like in the first innings where Arul Suppiah outshone the England captain with a career-best 156, the limelight was taken away by another Somerset batsman as Peter Trego hammered a 57-ball 85 off the struggling Indian attack before the home side, somewhat sympathetically, declared at tea to allow the visitors another brief innings. At least Gautam Gambhir and Abhinav Mukund eased themselves to an unbroken 69 before another shower ended the match, and India headed to London with their tail between their legs.

Trego arrived with Amit Mishra on a hat-trick but wickets were soon a long way from the legspinner's mind as he was left watching the ball sail regularly into the stands. Trego's half-century came up with the third of four consecutive leg-side sixes, and the umpires twice needed to find replacement balls. At one stage Mishra had bowled three overs for 61 and it went from a being a tough warm-up for the tourists to something of an embarrassment, although they will try to play down the significance.

It was no surprise that the home side didn't enforce the follow-on after the Indians were bowled out and the Somerset opening pair again made comfortable progress. Zaheer Khan didn't take the field - and neither did Sachin Tendulkar - but the team manager insisted he was purely resting which seemed an odd decision after a wicketless first innings where Zaheer looked in far from peak form. And if he didn't want to show himself to Strauss again, that suggests the pressure has shifted.

The remaining Indian bowlers went through the motions and the pattern was similar to the first innings. Munaf Patel was steady but unthreatening while Sreesanth was expensive. Strauss dominated the scoring, although not quite in the fashion of the opening day as Suppiah rode on the confidence of his first-innings hundred.

Strauss had barely an alarm as he cruised past fifty and tucked into some friendly bowling. He took three consecutive boundaries off Sreesanth, who kept dropping short, and also came down the pitch at Mishra to drive him for a straight six - many more of those would follow. Trego's onslaught meant he was quickly catching Strauss, but the England captain went to his hundred from 122 balls with a late cut shortly before tea.

Mishra had provided the Indians with momentary relief when he claimed two wickets in two balls but they were costly successes. His figures would soon take an even greater hammering, probably leaving him wishing he hadn't broken the opening stand. Suppiah lost his shape when he came down the pitch and got an outside edge to backward point then James Hildreth edged a legbreak behind first ball.

Earlier, Raina gave the Indians their one bright spot for the match as he raced to an unbeaten century to lift the visitors to 224. He added a final-wicket stand of 84 in 12 overs with Munaf of which the No. 11 contributed six. Raina needed just 37 balls to go from his fifty to a hundred as he cut loose after Sreesanth had lost his off stump to become Charl Willoughby's sixth wicket.

Rania drove, pulled and flicked five sixes which damaged Willoughby's figures while Alfonso Thomas also took some punishment. His hundred arrived from 110 balls courtesy of a misfield at mid-off but he didn't have the chance to add many more as Munaf was lbw to legspinner Max Waller soon after.

Raina's innings - and Yuvraj's duck on the second day - will have sealed the debate over India's No. 6 spot for Lord's. Strauss probably would not have minded having an extended look at Raina, someone England haven't faced before in Tests. He has gained more than he may have expected from his brief stint in the south-west. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Somerset cash in after Strauss finds form

Somerset 329 for 2 (Suppiah 145*, Compton 88, Strauss 78) v India

	Arul Suppiah cracked an unbeaten 145 on the first day of India's tour match against Somerset © Getty Images

Andrew Strauss warmed up for next week's first Test by taking the early honours at the start of the head-to-head with Zaheer Khan on his guest appearance for Somerset, and Arul Suppiah hit an unbeaten 145 as India were made to toil at Taunton. Strauss and Suppiah added 101 for the first wicket before Suppiah and Nick Compton put on 223 between two stoppages for rain to take the home side to an imposing 329 for 2.

Strauss struck 11 boundaries in bringing up his half-century from a sprightly 63 balls. All his shots were in good working order as he drove, pulled, and glanced his way into form ahead of Lord's next week. He did have a couple of close shaves: firstly on 20 when Zaheer had a big lbw shout turned down by Graham Lloyd, and then on 64 when Wriddhiman Saha, the reserve wicketkeeper playing in place of the rested MS Dhoni, dropped an edge off Amit Mishra. However, the keeper took the next chance when an edge bobbled off the pad and looped in the air as Strauss departed for 78. In the context of the runs that followed, he missed out.

The loan deal for Strauss had provoked debate, both about the whether the structure of domestic cricket does all it can to help the England team, and also what Somerset gained from the move. Despite coming off a four-day Championship match, the county fielded several first-team regulars, including England Lions captain James Hildreth, and somebody missed out to let Strauss play. However, he received a warm ovation as he left the field following his innings and, wearing his Somerset kit, appeared to have been adopted at least for the day.

"He looked very good, he was moving his feet very well and striking the ball out of the middle," Suppiah said of Strauss. "It's just a shame he got out, he probably could have got a hundred but he played really well. He looks hungry for runs, left the ball well and played straight which is the main thing for an opener."

The battle with Zaheer was a gentle precursor of what will follow in the Tests as the bowler eased himself back into action after a lengthy lay-off following the IPL. The initial overs of Zaheer's first spell were friendly, but he started to generate a touch more pace and find some swing later in an eight-over burst.

Zaheer is the only one in this India attack certain to play at Lord's next week with Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar rested following their workload in the Caribbean. It meant a chance for Sreesanth and Munaf Patel to stake a claim for the third seamer's slot, although neither made a compelling case. The attack actually looked toothless - Suresh Raina's late wicket of Compton came when the batsman reverse-swept to short third man - but India will back themselves to lift for the major challenge.

Sreesanth was tight to begin with but Strauss started to take to him with three boundaries in an over as he moved to his half-century. Patel, meanwhile, was steady but didn't provide much threat. Mishra began with three no-balls in his first three overs and Strauss picked off the legspinner with ease, pulling him over midwicket and driving through the off side, before the bowler struck back.

While Strauss's runs will be welcome, he'll know that they don't guarantee a successful start to the Tests. Ahead of the Sri Lanka series he scored two hundreds - one of them against the visitors at Uxbridge - but then struggled to convert that when the internationals began, and ended with 27 runs from four innings.

With the focus understandably on Strauss, Suppiah was a quiet partner in every sense at the other end. He didn't register a boundary until the start of the second hour when he played a lovely straight drive, but a sign of the gentle nature of the surface was that he, too, didn't have many alarms.

Rain brought a lengthy stoppage shortly after lunch but when the skies cleared, Suppiah and Compton made positive progress as India found wickets elusive. Suppiah became increasingly positive on either side of his half-century, but India missed a chance to break the partnership when Compton, on 24, was dropped at square by Sachin Tendulkar, when he pulled Sreesanth.

Compton cashed in on his chance with a series of well-timed boundaries, one of which was a stand-and-deliver cover drive off Zaheer, who was the pick of a disappointing seam attack, as he reached a half century from 74 deliveries. Mishra was taken at more than four-an-over and also dropped a tough caught-and-bowled chance off Suppiah, who was on 71. Mishra was forced to leave the field mid-over for treatment on his finger but was said to be fine. The 17 overs shared by the part-time spinners, Raina and Yuvraj Singh, cost 110 runs including 18 off one Yuvraj over.

The resumption after tea was delayed by further rain, but the final hour was possible which gave Suppiah the chance to register his sixth first-class hundred from 179 balls, and he is closing in on a new career-best. It's been a good time for Suppiah: he registered world record Twenty20 figures of 6 for 5 in a Friends Life t20 game against Glamorgan last week. And it won't have done him any harm to score runs in front of the England captain. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.