Kolkata - The Mumbai Indians narrowly defeated the Rajasthan Royals in order to qualify for the final against the Chennai Super Kings.
After evening showers in Kolkata delayed the start of the match by an hour, the Rajasthan Royals decided to bat against Mumbai
Indians and posted a total of 165/6 in their 20 overs..
The Royals didn't make any changes to the XI that beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eliminator on Wednesday.
Mumbai, who would have batted too despite possibility of more rain, were still without Sachin Tendulkar. They made one change, though. Munaf Patel, who went for 32 in his last match, was left out for Rishi Dhawan.
There was heaps of drama with half-volleys hit straight to hand, while catches were dropped when they were easier to hold, it was just another night in the life of the IPL.
Chasing 166, which was thanks to Lasith Malinga's profligate last over, Mumbai were on their way with Dwayne Smith and Aditya Tare strolling through, but a spate of poor shots made for some late drama as it was left to Harbhajan Singh and Dhawan to hit the winning runs in the final over after they lost Smith and the big-hitting Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu in consecutive overs.
They will go onto play the Kings, in a rematch of Monday's Qualifier in New Delhi, which the Kings won convincingly.
Teams:
Rajasthan Royals Rahul Dravid (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, Dishant Yagnik (wk), Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Brad Hodge, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Vikramjeet Malik, Siddharth Trivedi
Mumbai Indians Dwayne Smith, Aditya Tare, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rohit Sharma (capt), Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Rishi Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Lasith Malinga, Pragyan Ojha