IPL 2019: Match 24, MI vs KXIP, Review – Skipper Kieron Pollard biffs the Kings XI with a splendid knock

KL Rahul's maiden IPL ton went in vain.

Published - 11 Apr 2019, 00:26 IST | Updated - 11 Apr 2019, 00:26 IST

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The match between the Mumbai Indians and the Kings XI Punjab at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai was a thrilling one. Nearly 400 runs were scored in the match and it was the home team which prevailed. Leading the Mumbai franchise for the first time ever, Kieron Pollard played a fairy tale knock and got his team over the line.

The way he was hitting the ball was just scintillating. His efforts blew away KL Rahul’s maiden IPL century as well as a quickfire knock from Chris Gayle. Kieron Pollard smoked the ball to all parts of the ground and was brutal. It’s been a while since he played such cricket and completely exposed the weak areas of KXIP bowling line-up.

KL Rahul gets to the triple digits in the IPL, at last

Kieron Pollard, the stand-in skipper for the Mumbai Indians, won the toss and opted to bowl first. The visitors got off to a flyer with KL Rahul and Chris Gayle going bonkers after the bowlers. 116 runs were added in 12.5 overs of which the Jamaican scored 63 runs from 36 balls. At one point, it seemed as if KXIP would get to a score around 230.

However, the Mumbai bowlers pulled things back well after Gayle fell. David Miller, Karun Nair and Sam Curran got out in quick successions after scoring 7, 5 and 8 runs respectively. But KL Rahul helped pull things back towards the end. He played exceptional cricket and scored his first century in the IPL.

Rahul got into the nineties on many instances earlier but was never fortunate enough to get to the triple digits. But this time, he ensured that he got to the milestone. Mandeep Singh finished the innings with a six as KXIP got a mammoth 197/4 in 20 overs. Pollard’s captaincy was questionable in this game. Instead of bowling Alzarri Joseph at the death, he bowled Hardik Pandya and the all-rounder leaked a lot of runs.

Kieron Pollard makes Wankhede dance to his tunes

The Mumbai Indians also got off to a good start in the chase. Siddhesh Lad, after waiting for five years to make his debut, finally got his chance in place of Rohit Sharma. He smashed his first ball in the IPL for a six and followed it up with a four. After scoring 15 off 10 balls, Lad was bowled by Mohammed Shami. Suryakumar Yadav looked sublime in his brief stay in the middle. He scored 21 runs from 15 balls before Sam Curran dismissed him.

Quinton de Kock failed yet again. After crawling to a 23-ball 24, he holed out to the fielder at long-off. Soon, Ishan Kishan also got run out for the second time in a row leading to a massive disappointment. Then Kieron Pollard broke free and was assisted by Hardik Pandya. They added a quickfire 41 together and the latter was the first to walk back to the pavilion. His brother Krunal Pandya also got out in the same over and Mohammed Shami brought his team back into the game.

Skipper Kieron Pollard, though, kept his calm despite the pressure mounting up. He took the onus upon himself and promoted himself up the order in this match. Mumbai needed 58 runs off the last 4 overs and Pollard had only Alzarri Joseph for the company. 15 runs were required off the last over and Pollard started with 11 runs off the first ball itself as Ankit Rajpoot bowled a no-ball. But, he got out off the second ball after scoring 83 runs from just 31 balls.

This swung the fortunes back in the favour of the Kings XI Punjab. Mumbai needed 4 runs off the last 4 balls and the equation was brought from to 2 off 1 ball. Alzarri Joseph was successful in completing the chase as the Mumbai Indians successfully completed the chase.