IPL 2019: Kieron Pollard lauds Bumrah and Malinga for their fantastic bowling in the final

Mumbai Indians (MI) clinched the last-ball thriller in Hyderabad to win their record fourth Indian Premier League (IPL) title on Sunday. The veteran Lasith Malinga, despite having a bad day, did it for his team in the final over and then he was on Kieron Pollard’s shoulders while the celebrations were going on. To pull off a sensational delivery when the team needs to defend two runs off the final delivery was simply sensational from Malinga.

Though his figures 1/49 doesn’t seem to be good, his heroics in the final over will never be forgotten. Not to forget Jasprit Bumrah’s impeccable spell which earned him the Man of the Match. When Shane Watson was going after all the other bowlers on the day, Bumrah time and again came back to stem the run-flow. He ended up with the magical figures of 2/14 in his four overs and that eventually made the difference.

Even Kieron Pollard, who himself slammed an unbeaten 41 off 25 balls with the bat, acknowledged the efforts of the duo and praised them. He also reiterated the importance of putting runs on the board in the final as they once again defended the total like they did in 2017.

Lasith did the things he can do

“Of course, these sort are the games we need to perform in, these are the games that people remember, scoring runs first in the final is always good, the pressure is on the chasing team. Credit to these guys, Bumrah bowled a fine spell and then Lasith did the things he can do.

“In 2017, when we see back at that game (against RPS in the final), we didn’t put many runs and it went to the final over, this season too we had some really close games. It’s the teams that do not put pressure on themselves that can become champions at the end of the tournament,” Pollard said in the post-match interview.

While Bumrah ended the tournament with 19 wickets in 16 matches, Lasith Malinga accounted for 16 scalps in 12 outings. Both of them played a crucial role for the team and continue to be the key players for the franchise.

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