DWAYNE STORM: Mumbai Indians opener Dwayne Smith sends one to the fence during his blistering knock of 62 that helped his side overtake the victory target. (BCCI)
Agencies/Kolkata
Mumbai Indians stormed into the final of the Indian Premier League after beating Rajasthan Royals by four wickets in the second qualifier at the Eden Gardens here yesterday.
Opting to bat, Rajasthan scored a competitive 165 for 6, which Mumbai chased down with a ball to spare. Chasing the 166-run target, Dwayne Smith scored quickfire 44-ball-62 to lead the Mumbai Indians run chase.
Earlier, Royals rode on a gritty 43 by Rahul Dravid before Dishant Yagnik upped the ante with an unbeaten 17-ball 31 to set a challenging target of 166.
Dravid was Royals' top-scorer as they seemed to struggle in the middle before Yagnik, who hit five fours, and Hodge (19 not out) added 57 runs in 27 balls to prop up their side.
They were also helped by some shoddy bowling by Malinga in the last over.
Harbhajan Singh made full use of the overcast conditions, returning with figures of 3 for 23, including the prized scalp of Dravid, before Kieron Pollard took two wickets in one over to further damage Royals' scoring rate after they opted to bat first.
Mumbai Indians got their script wrong in a horrible last over by Malinga who conceded 18 runs including seven extras. The winners will set up tomorrow's summit clash with Chennai Super Kings.
An interesting duel was on display with a different-looking Dravid taking the attack on Mumbai Indians quickie Johnson, hitting the Aussie for consecutive boundaries with some classical flicks and drives.
That Johnson had troubled Ajinkya Rahane, with his rising bouncer hitting the young opener's helmet a while ago, must have surely made the Aussie frustrated. Finding him at the receiving end, Johnson, who conceded 23 runs from his three-over first spell, was seen losing his cool with some mild exchanges in the middle. But the retired Indian batsman went about his way silently as his aggressive demeanour brought the otherwise downcast atmosphere alive.