#OTD in 2011: Franklin and Rayudu hit over 21 runs off last over as MI edge past KKR

On this day, James Franklin and Ambati Rayudu helped Mumbai Indians (MI) secure a thrilling victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team in Match 7o of IPL 2011. 

MI came into this game with three consecutive losses, and even though they had booked the playoffs spot, they needed to generate some winning momentum. But, on the other hand, KKR required to win this game to secure the top two places on the points table. 

Mumbai elected to field first and gained breakthroughs in the form of Shreevats Goswami and Gautam Gambhir. Then Manoj Tiwary (35) and Jacques Kallis (59) put up a stand of 47 runs and recovered the team from the early losses. 

The delicate flourish coming from Yusuf Pathan (36) and Ryan ten Doeschate (18) at the end paved the way for them to score 175 on the board. For MI, Abu Nechim and James Franklin took two wickets each. 

Mumbai lost Tirumalsetti Suman in the second over, but Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh stabilized the innings well with their 57-run partnership. 

At the end of 13 overs, MI was stuttering on 96/4, with Kieron Pollard and Franklin at the crease. Pollard played cautiously, while Franklin scored odd boundaries alternately to keep the team in the hunt to chase down the score. 

However, Lakshmipathy Balaji bamboozled the leg-stump of Pollard in the 18th over, and MI needed 39 off 15 balls. 

Rayudu hit a six over the deep extra cover boundary in his second delivery of the innings. Then Brett Lee gave only nine runs in the 19th over, and MI required  21 runs off the last over. 

Franklin hit four boundaries in the first four balls of the over, with most of them being the widish delivery on the off-side. In the fifth ball of the over, the Kiwi all-rounder took a single. Then Balaji delivered a full toss, which Rayudu gracefully accepted and hit a six in the deep square leg region.  

After this win, MI reached the playoffs with a psychological advantage and beat KKR in the eliminator. However, they lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Qualifier 2.