IPL 2021 Match 27: Kieron Pollard single-handedly steer Mumbai Indians to a convincing win
Kieron Pollard
|| India Correspondent ||
Another nail-biting finish was seen during the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as MI has reached the target in the final ball of the game and won it by 4 wickets as well.
Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to bowl first. They made two changes as James Neesham came in place of Jayant Yadav and Dhawal Kulkarni replaced Nathan Coulter-Nile. On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) played with the unchanged playing XI.
Put in to bat first, CSK got off to a flying start despite their in-form opener Ruturaj Gaikwad fell for a mere 4. Veteran Moeen Ali paced up things along with the in-form Faf du Plessis and both posted 49 runs in the powerplay. Ali smashed a blitzy 58 off 36 with five fours and as many sixes whereas du Plessis also smacked a half-century off 28 balls with two boundaries and four sixes as well.
Later, Ambati Rayudu started taking the opponent bowlers and helped Chennai Super Kings put up a massive total of 218 for 4 in their allotted 20 overs. Rayudu hit a stormy 27-ball 72 which also included four boundaries and seven sixes and helped CSK to post a massive total in front of a strong Mumbai Indians team to chase down in 20 overs.
However, while chasing, Mumbai Indians got off to a flying start as in-form Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock posted 58 runs within the powerplay. But Sharma soon fell for a well-made 35 off 24 and de Kock could only manage to score 38. Meanwhile, middle-order batter Krunal Pandya supported Pollard with a 32-run knock.
Later, Pollard took the charge and smashed every bowler over the park, registering the fastest fifty of the tournament by taking 17 balls only. He remained unbeaten at 87 off 34 balls with six boundaries and eight sixes and helped his side win in the final ball of the game as well.
After the defeat, MS Dhoni said: “It was a brilliant wicket. The difference was the execution. Not being too tough on bowlers, we dropped catches at crucial intervals. The bowlers would execute better and learn from this. If you look how it went. we were very off target when it came to execution. It is important to do that"
"The wicket was easy to hit. In a tournament like this, you will win and lose a few close games. When you are under the pump, you learn a lot. Irrespective where we are in the points table, we take one game at a time. We hardly ever focus where we are standing on the table. That has been our good point along the way.”
