Pollard spoils Kohli, Badree’s party
RESCUE ACT Windies star hammers blistering 70 to help Mumbai overcome Kohli’s fifty and Badree’s hattrick
Kieron Pollard’s power-packed 47-ball 70 guided Mumbai Indians to a four-wicket victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore despite Samuel Badree’s hattrick on debut in a lowscoring Indian Premier League match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Friday.
Asked to bat after losing the toss, Royal Challengers Bangalore could only score 142/5 in their quota of 20 overs. Mumbai Indians, once reduced to 33/5, overtook the target with seven balls remaining.
RCB captain Virat Kohli scored a 47-ball 62 after returning from a shoulder injury but the home team still managed a subpar score at one of the smallest grounds in India. Samuel Badree however gave the visitors a good chance to win with a hattrick in only the second over of his IPL career as he dismissed Parthiv Patel, Mitchell McClenaghan and Rohit Sharma.
This was after Stuart Binny got rid of English opener Jos Buttler in only the previous over for just 2. Mumbai Indians slid into bigger trouble when they lost their top-five after Nitish Rana’s dismissal with the team score reading 33.
But Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya got together to stitch a 93-run partnership for the sixth wicket that got Mumbai Indians to within 17 runs of victory. In the process, Pollard scored 70 off 47 balls, helped by three boundaries and five towering sixes. Krunal Pandya (37*) however took on the reins of the chase after Pollard’s dismissal as he safely guided Mumbai Indians to a four-wicket victory with brother Hardik (9*) at the other end.
The victory should have come much easier given the way Mumbai were able to keep Royal Challengers Bangalore to a below-par score. While bowling, Mumbai Indians gave RCB large vacant areas in the infield, posted fielders at boundaries and tried to cut down the pace on the ball as much as possible.
It worked like a charm. Not only did RCB struggle to score swifty at the start, but Chris Gayle’s wait to hit the 10,000 run mark in T20 cricket also stretched to the next match. His arduous 27-ball innings of 22 ended while trying to power a pull off Hardik Pandya but the big Jamaican only got a faint edge.
What punched holes in RCB’s sails however were the quick dismissals of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Kohli looked good in his 47-ball 62 but fell prey to clever field placements as he hit Mitchell McClenaghan straight to Jos Buttler at deep extra cover in the 16th over.
Apart from the third and the 14th overs when Mumbai Indians conceded 17 and 19 runs respectively, RCB failed to get any momentum in the form of big hits at a small ground.