Mumbai Indians (MI) faced Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 27th match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Saturday (May 1).
Asked to bat first, CSK piled up a mammoth 218/4 in 20 overs on the back of Ambati Rayudu’s jaw-dropping 27-ball 72* and significant contributions from Moeen Ali (58 off 36 balls) and Faf du Pessis (50 off 28 balls).
Amid the carnage, all-rounder Kieron Pollard returned with the respectable figures of 2 for 12 in his two overs.
In reply, MI got off to a brilliant start as the duo of Rohit Sharma (35) and Quinton de Kock (38) added 71 runs for the opening wicket. However, the defending champions lost both the openers and Suryakumar Yadav (3) in quick succession to find themselves struggling at 81/3.
Afterwards, Pollard and Krunal Pandya shared an 89-run stand in double quick time to bring Mumbai back in the contest. In particular, Pollard was severe on the CSK bowlers, notching up his fifty in just 17 deliveries – the fastest of this year’s IPL so far.
While Krunal got out in the 17th over for 23-ball 32, Pollard held the one end firmly. Needing 16 in the final over, Pollard (87 not out off 34 balls; 6 fours and 8 sixes) hit Lungi Ngidi for two fours, a six and a couple to take MI over the line on the last delivery with 4 wickets in hand.
For his herculean effort with the bat, Kieron Pollard received rich praise from the cricket fraternity on social media.
Check out the reactions:
