BLACKCAP James Franklin guided the Mumbai Indians to the qualifying final of the IPL with a mature knock as his team beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets.
Chasing 148, Mumbai lost their way after an early onslaught from openers Aiden Blizzard (51) and Sachin Tendulkar (36) took them to 81 in eight overs.
Franklin came to the crease at 92-3 and saw a further three wickets fall with the New Zealand all-rounder steadying the innings with 29 not out off 24 deliveries, hitting the winning runs from the second ball of the final over.
It was the second match in a row that Franklin helped his team secure a win after hitting four boundaries in the final over against the same opposition in the final round-robin match four days ago.
Earlier, Dutch international Ryan ten Doeschate smashed an unbeaten 70 off 49 balls to take Kolkata through to 147 for seven.
Mumbai now face Daniel Vettori’s Bangalore Royal Challengers tomorrow to see who face Chennai Super Kings in the final on Saturday.
