Pollard fifty overcomes Badree hat-trick
Kieron Pollard's 47-ball 70 hauled Mumbai Indians to a six-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore, for whom a Samuel Badree hat-trick wasn't enough to defend 142
Kieron Pollard's 47-ball 70 hauled Mumbai Indians to a six-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore, for whom a Samuel Badree hat-trick wasn't enough to defend 142
Commentator: Varun Shetty
7.50pm Thanks for joining us for this game. We're bringing you the second of the double-header too, of course. That's Gujarat Lions against Rising Pune. Jadeja is back for them. Head over to that game. Good night!
Pollard: Pollard: I just thought these are situations when champions are made. I thought of that and struck to my strength, hit it down the ground. Krunal came in and showed his maturity too. It was a matter of watching what their bowlers. We decided that if we get a six or four off every spinner's over, we will get close if we keep it ticking and not play any dot balls. Personally I've never felt out of form. I've been hitting it well in the nets and these are the times you've to dig in. At the moment, the momentum is with us.
Kieron Pollard is the Man of the Match.
Rohit: It was a great effort with the bat. We always had the belief. We've always had guys pull things out in those situations, to show character. Pollard and Krunal did exactly that. We executed perfectly with the ball in the Powerplays and we bowled to their weaknesses. It was a collective performance. All the bowlers complemented each other. It made my job easy.
7.32pm Phew, what a game. The home team wanted to chase on this pitch, and we've understood why. Barring the opening half of their innings, they were completely done in by both Mumbai and this dry pitch. 142 nowhere near enough, and no boundaries off the last 32 balls nowhere near acceptable.
But for a brief period, Badree masked everything frail about RCB and produced the sort of magic you don't come back from. Not unless you're Pollard. A crucial innings for him, and he came through for them. Not the first time he's done it against RCB, and not even the first time at this venue. But the cheeky ones among us will know why this intelligent innings will be among his favourite. Krunal chipped in as well, as he's wont to do this season. A good win, but, like Badree, is this just a cover-up of other weaknesses? We'll see. For now, three wins out of four for Mumbai. And the first time a team has won after losing four wickets for less than 10 - in IPL history.
Near-full-strength teams face off in what is likely to be a run-fest in Bangalore
Kieron Pollard announced his return to form with a commanding 47-ball 70
Samuel Badree praised his West Indian team-mate Kieron Pollard for his character and maturity after helping steer a tough chase with a half-century
By anchoring a tough chase on a dry surface, Kieron Pollard proved there's more to his game than just monstrous sixes
Kieron Pollard's 47-ball 70 hauled Mumbai Indians to a six-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore, for whom a Samuel Badree hat-trick wasn't enough to defend 142