IPL 2021: I was fortunate Faf me the chance – Kieron Pollard

 

Mumbai Indians all-rounder Kieron Pollard feels he had the rub of the green on his side as he was dropped by Faf du Plessis when he was on 68 runs. Pollard went on to add another 19 runs after the drop catch and took his team to an emphatic win by four wickets against Chennai Super Kings at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Saturday.

Pollard was at his absolute best as he was able to hit the ground running. Chasing a gargantuan total of 219 runs, Mumbai Indians were 81-3 after 10 overs, and thus the total looked beyond their reach but they had some hopes as long as Pollard was at the crease.

The West Indian is known to get his team out of the muddle and he did it once again as he played an innings for the ages. Pollard took 20 runs from the 13th over bowled by Ravindra Jadeja and it was the turning point of the match.

The right hander was able to strike the ball cleanly as he showed no mercy for the Chennai bowlers. Pollard kept finding the boundaries at the right time to keep Mumbai in the contest and played a masterpiece knock to get his team over the line. The power-hitter scored six fours and eight sixes in his knock of 87 runs as he batted at the top of his game.

Pollard said in the post-match presentation after he was awarded the Player of the Match, “They had four overs of spin to bowl on a small ground, I saw if I could hit a couple of sixes and then try to take it from there. Only got two overs against spin and I had to maximise that over against Jadeja. If we stay in for a period of time, a couple of sixes are always going to keep us in the game. You have to evolve, a lot of practice goes into it. That has helped me tremendously. I can’t say I’m 360, I am maximising more angles in the field. Dhawal’s decent with the bat, but I needed to bat those six balls. That’s the pressure you need to take as an individual. I was fortunate Faf gave me that chance”. 

On the other hand, Pollard also delivered the goods with the ball as he scalped two wickets of Faf du Plessis and Suresh Raina and conceded only 12 runs in his two overs. In fact, Pollard could have had another wicket had he hold on to a tough caught-and-bowl chance.

Pollard added, “They just lost a wicket in Moeen, it was the best time for a seamer to come and bowl. It worked, I got two wickets and another over which is fantastic”. 

Mumbai Indians have won two matches in a row and they have surely got the momentum on their side. The defending champions will next face SRH at the same venue on 4th May.