IPL 2021: Stephen Fleming reveals why MS Dhoni had a spread out field against Kieron Pollard on the final ball

The Mumbai Indians needed 2 runs to win off the final delivery against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on 1st May 2021. And, the captain of the CSK franchise, MS Dhoni set a field that was totally spread out. And as a result, Mumbai batsman Kieron Pollard nudged the ball towards Long On and completed 2 runs.

And now, the Head Coach of the CSK franchise, Stephen Fleming has opened up on the field that was set against Pollard for the final delivery. Fleming stated that he was not surprised by the field that was set, and added that Pollard is an excellent timer of the ball.

Fleming further added that he was actually waiting for the stumps to be hit or a result similar to the 2019 IPL final. Fleming concluded by stating that there are other incidents that the CSK side has to look at from the match, and not just the last ball alone.

“Not really (if he was surprised to see the field). Pollard is such a good timer of the ball that you never know what he’s going to do. Got so much to win, to be honest, we were looking for something like the stumps being hit or like the result, we had when we got beaten in the (2019) final.

So, we’ll go have a look over that. I think there are a lot of other instances that we’ll have a look at rather than just the last ball,” said Fleming during the post-match press conference.

“I have never seen a chase like this before,” says Rohit Sharma

Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma showered praises on Kieron Pollard and opined that he has never seen a run chase like this before in his career. Sharma also emphatically declared that this was one of the best knocks that he has seen from Kieron Pollard. Sharma concluded by stating that he is very proud of the efforts put in by his boys.

“I have never seen a chase like that before. One of the best innings from Polly. Brilliant to see that from the outside. Very proud of the efforts the boys put in,” concluded Sharma during the post-match presentation.

The Mumbai Indians chased down a target of 219 that was set by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with 4 wickets to spare. Pollard scored a belligerent 87* off 34 deliveries to steer his side to victory.