Malinga, Franklin Bowls Mumbai Into CLT20 Final

Chennai: Mummai Indian beat Somerset in the second semi-final of the Champions League. They've made the final an all-IPL affair, as Royal Challengers Bangalore had qualified yesterday -- and this didn't look likely at the beginning of the tournament when most of Mumbai's first-choice players were out injured.

Chasing 161, Craig Kieswetter's 62 ran Mumbai close but what sealed the deal were Lasith Malinga's fast, furious yorkers which never seem to be off target. He took 4-20, all four wickets bowled.
 
Kieswetter and James Hildreth (39) added 83 to put Somerset on course for an unlikely win. This was after Malinga had flummoxed Peter Trego and Reolof van der Merwe with two fast, dipping yorkers.

James Franklin bowled Mumbai's crucial 19th over when Somerset needed 22. Franklin took 2-7 in the over but Mumbai also gained from a freak injury to Kieswetter who felt the full impact of a powerful straight-drive from Jos Buttler on his fore-arm.

Franklin's good over made Malinga's work easier in the final over, in which he had 15 to defend.

After the crazy scoring rates in Bangalore, a slow wicket at the Chidambaram Stadium brought a degree of parity between bat and ball. Mumbai Indians chose to bat.

Mumbai's problem in the tournament has been their batting. But today Aiden Blizzard rose to the occasion with a swift 53 (39b) as Mumbai battled on through a frequent fall of wickets -- Sarul Kanwar, Ambati Rayudu and Franklin all failed to cross 20.

Somerset skipper Alfonso Thomas, an acknowledged specialist of bowling the final overs, dealt Mumbai a huge blow in removing Kieron Pollard (24) before he could cause further damage.

Suryakumar Yadav, in the squad for Andrew Symonds, and Rajagopal Sathish provided 43 precious runs -- 20 of which were stolen from Thomas' 19th over.

Sathish, one of the Indian faces of the now-defunct Indian Cricket League, hadn't made a notable contribution yet for Mumbai Indians but his 25 (12b) proved precious today.

Lastly, there was a bit of history associated with the game. Compton is the grandson of England great Denis Compton. In 1944, Denis had played the Ranji Trophy semi-final at this ground for Holkar against Madras.

Denis had made 81 in a big win for Holkar, a team that also had the Nayudu brothers and Syed Mushtaq Ali. Sadly for his grandson, there was no such glory in the Champions League semi-final.

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