Mumbai Indians made sure of top spot in the IPL table with a nine-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders.
Match scores (Kolkata)
Mumbai win by nine runs
Mumbai inns: 173-5 (20/20 overs. Rayudu 63, Tiwary 52; Boult 2-30)
Kolkata inns: 164-8 (20/20 overs. Pandey 33, Lynn 26; H.H Pandya 2-22, Kumar 2-31)
Match report
Mumbai Indians made sure of top spot in the IPL table with a nine-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.
Half-centuries from Saurabh Tiwary (52 from 43 balls) and Ambati Rayudu (63 from 37 balls) helped them up to 173-5 from their 20 overs before restricting KKR to 164-8.
Despite the defeat, Kolkata's place in the play-offs has also been confirmed but they missed the opportunity to claim a top-two finish.
It was the hosts who enjoyed the better start when Trent Boult dismissed Lendl Simmons for a duck in the third over.
Ankit Rajpoot (1-14) then removed Rohit Sharma (27) in the ninth over and while Tiwary was hitting the ball nicely, KKR were controlling the flow of runs.
Rayudu was the first to attempt to up the ante and after a calamitous run out saw Tiwary heading back to the pavilion, the wicketkeeper-batsman kicked on again.
He smashed three sixes into the stands before he was stumped in the penultimate over and a tight final over from Boult left KKR with an eminently achievable 174 to win.
However, a first over wicket maiden from Tim Southee, with the dangerous Sunil Narine gone without scoring, quickly showed that victory would not come easily for KKR.
Keeping up with the required rate was proving little problem but when Gautam Gambhir (21), Robin Uthappa (2) and Chris Lynn (26) fell in the space of three overs, they were wobbling at 53-4.
Yusuf Pathan (20) counter-attacked with three maximums in his seven-ball knock before he was caught off the bowling of Vinay Kumar.
Colin de Grandhomme (29 from 16 balls) continued where Pathan left off though, with Manish Pandey playing a supporting role, but just as KKR looked to have gained the upper hand he was bowled by Hardik Pandya.
Pandey (33) himself was dismissed at the start of the 18th with 25 still needed for victory and when Kuldeep Yadav (16) was controversially given out caught behind in the next, any lingering KKR hopes were dashed.
Pandya held his nerve in the final over, conceding just four, to finish the job and guarantee Mumbai two attempts to reach next weekend's final.
