The two wickets by James Franklin in the 19th over set up victory for Mumbai Indians, according to skipper Harbhajan Singh who also praised Lasith Malinga for his haul of four wickets against Somerset in the semifinals of the Champions League T20 tournament on Saturday.
Mumbai Indians, who made 160 for 5, won by 10 runs, but not before surviving some anxious moments as Somerset came within shouting distance of winning before losing four wickets in the last two overs.
"It was a better wicket than what we played on earlier. We batted quite well except for in the middle overs. Pollard, Sathish Rajagopal and Suyra Kumar Yadav scored important runs at the finish.
"Malinga and Franklin bowled fantastic two overs. I asked Franklin to bowl the 19th over because he was bowling the right length and he had bowled a lot in the nets. It paid off," said Harbhajan.
His counterpart Alfonso Thomas was obviously disappointed, but preferred to look at the positives as his team came through the qualifying competition to reach the semifinals.
"I thought we could win, but it was quality bowling by Malinga. What can you say? As for our team, a few youngsters came through. We take back fond memories," said Thomas.
{{/usCountry}}"I thought we could win, but it was quality bowling by Malinga. What can you say? As for our team, a few youngsters came through. We take back fond memories," said Thomas.
{{/usCountry}}Man of the Match Malinga said: "I knew that the first three overs were important and I did my best and took two wickets. In the last over, I tried some variations and they worked, but Franklin took two wickets in the 19th and I knew that 15 off my last over would be difficult."