Mumbai Indians all-rounder Kieron Pollard said that Kings XI Punjab were batting well and could have finished the game by the 18th or the 19th over, but commended his team’s efforts to bring the game to the last over.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Pollard said that MI batted well to reach a score of 170-odd and overall played a good game of cricket.
Punjab needed 27 runs off the last three overs when Jasprit Bumrah came in to bowl the 18th over. He took the big wicket of KL Rahul, who was batting on 77 and gave away just 5 runs in that over to bring the equation down to 22 needed off 12 balls. Nathan Coulter-Nile gave 12 runs leaving 9 for Trent Boult to defend.
KXIP got a lucky boundary through an inside edge and with one dot ball and three singles, the equation came down to 2 runs needed of 1 ball. Chris Jordan was slow on the second run and Pollard’s accurate throw at the keeper’s end meant he was found short of the crease and the match went into the super over, not one but two.
Jasprit Bumrah was given the ball in the first super over for the Mumbai Indians and he gave just five runs and got both Nicholas Pooran and KL Rahul out. In the main innings, too, apart from going for 15 runs in one over, Bumrah gave just 9 in the other three and took wickets of Mayank Agarwal, Pooran, and Rahul.
Asked about having a bowler like Bumrah in their side, Pollard said that till two years ago, Lasith Malinga used to be their premier go-to bowler and Bumrah having been part of the MI setup for several years now has taken the mantle. “It is nice for us [having Bumrah in MI], it’s just a matter of us putting runs on the board for him to defend and let him go out and do this thing.”
Needing six runs off six balls, MI sent both their openers to finish off the task but Mohammad Shami bowled brilliantly to take the match to another super over. Asked about sending Rohit and Quinton de Kock ahead of big-hitters like himself and Hardik Pandya, Pollard said he would assume that they went in because the target was relatively lower and both of them are world-class players, who play proper cricketing shots.
“It didn’t work (sending Rohit and De Kock in the first super over), so you’ll have a lot of articles and a lot of questions of what ifs and what could have happened but at the end of it, you have to make the right decision and back whatever happens at the end.”Kieron Pollard, all-rounder, Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians’ juggernaut came to an end after winning five games in a row. Asked about the focus areas going ahead, Pollard said that it’s just a matter of improving, each and every time they step on the field. He added that the people and everyone is accustomed to seeing MI win, so they will come back with a better plan in the next game and try to get the two points.
After losing this game, MI have now three losses in six games but still remain at the second position on the points table.
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