Pollard’s Wankhede Farewell
Mumbai Indians outclass Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets
Riding on skipper Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 68 alongside Kieron Pollard’s quickfire 17-ball 51, defending champions Mumbai Indians outclassed Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets in an Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match at the Wankhede Stadium here on Thursday.
Batting first, KKR posted a competitive total of 174/5 in 20 overs, thanks to skipper Gautam Gambhir’s 45-ball 59.
In reply, Rohit struck 68 not out off just 49 balls, as the hosts chased down the target comfortably posting 178/4 in 18 overs.
Rohit struck eight boundaries and two sixes, while Pollard, who also remained unbeaten, smashed six sixes and two boundaries to take the team to victory.
Chasing a challenging target of 175, the home side got off to a disappointing start losing in-form opener Parthiv Patel (1) in the second over itself.
But his opening partner, skipper Rohit Sharma used his experience to best effect to score runs at a good pace without losing anymore wickets to help the team reach 64/1 after completion of powerplay.
He was supported well at the other end by Ambati Rayudu (32).
The duo struck a much needed 50-run partnership for the second wicket in just 27 balls to help the team stay on course for a victory.
But Shakib Al Hasan dismissed Rayudu in the seventh over to put an end to a good partnership.
New batsman Krunal Pandya (6) failed to impress as his dismissal in the ninth over reduced Mumbai to 78/2.
Despite wickets falling at the other end, Rohit stayed calm and brought up yet another half-century in just 36 balls and take the team past the 100-run mark in the 12th over.
After the dismissal of Jos Buttler (15), incoming batsman Kieron Pollard came into the show and smashed Rajagopal Sathish for 23 runs in the 16th over to put Mumbai on course to a win.