Pollard blasts 70 as Mumbai rout Bangalore
Kieron Pollard struck a 47-ball 70 before Krunal Pandya gave the finishing touches with an unbeaten 37 as Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets in their IPL match on Friday.
Pollard, who hit three fours and five sixes in his aggressive knock, shared 93 runs for the sixth wicket to set up Mumbai’s comfortable win at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Pandya hit a six off Tymal Mills as Mumbai chased down the target of 143 by reaching 145 for 6 with seven balls to spare.
This was Mumbai’s third win on the trot after losing their campaign opener against Rising Pune Supergiant.
“I just thought these are situations when champions are made. I thought of that and stuck to my strength, hit it down the ground. 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,” Pollard said after the match.
“Krunal came in and showed his maturity too. It was a matter of watching 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,” he added.
Meanwhile, West Indian leg-spinner Samuel Badree of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) bagged the first hat trick in the 2017 IPL as frenzied fans erupted in joy and danced to the beat of drums.
Even as about 40,000 fans were wondering if RCB could defend their modest total of 142 for 5 against the two-time IPL champions, Badree’s sensational bowling feat in the second over of his first IPL match set the stands on fire, as Mumbai were reduced to 7 for 4 in three balls until Pollard stepped in and changed the complexion of the match.
Earlier, Virat Kohli made a rousing return from injury with a 62 off 47 balls.
Kohli missed this campaign’s first three league ties, including two away at Hyderabad on April 5 and Indore on April 10 and one here on April 8, as he was recovering from the right shoulder injury he suffered in the third Test against Australia at Ranchi on March 16.
As Kohli walked into the middle to open the innings with Chris Gayle after Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma chose to field first despite winning the toss, fans cheered him loudly and chants of “Kohli, Kohli” reverberated across the packed stands.
True to his form and much to the delight of his fans, Kohli did not disappoint them, as he settled down early to play an anchoring innings which had five fours and two mighty sixes before he was out in the 16th over when the score was 110 for 1.
Ahead of the crucial game, after RCB lost both the away games to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 35 runs on April 5 and to Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets on April 10, Kohli said he was excited to resume playing, as he badly missed the game for nearly a month after a year-long hectic cricketing schedule in domestic and overseas series.
“Though I have been with the team at the nets since the season began, I was missing the game very much. The break has helped me to become fit to play again. I am sure my return will strengthen the batting lineup, as AB (de Villiers) has also joined the team in the last game after missing the first two due to back pain,” said Kohli.
But RCB failed to capitalise on the good work done by Kohli, managing just 31 runs off the last five overs and lost four wickets.
After mistiming a short ball off Harbhajan Singh for a single in the second over of the innings, Kohli found his ominous touch.
His opening partner Chris Gayle was the second highest contributor with 22 off 27 balls. However, RCB lost their way after Kohli’s dismissal in the 16th over. —