IPL 2019: 3 Veterans who have performed well this year
The 12th edition of the IPL is nearly halfway through, and this season, one has witnessed impressive bowling performances from youngsters such as Deepak Chahar, Shreyas Gopal, Kagiso Rabada, Alzarri Joseph and Sam Curran. In the batting department, players like Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Prithvi Shaw, and Mayank Agarwal have been impressive.
Apart from the eye-catching performances of the youngsters and established stars, there have been a few veterans too who have made their presence felt in this year’s IPL with their exemplary accomplishments which defy their age. Some of those veterans have either retired from International cricket or are is at the verge of retirement.
In this article, let us browse through the performances of 3 such veterans in IPL 2019.
# 3. Kieron Pollard(MI)
Innings – 5, Not out – 2, Runs – 96, Avg – 32, SR – 157
Kieron Pollard hasn’t scored too many runs in this year’s IPL, but he has made two match-winning contributions for Mumbai.
In the match against the Chennai Super Kings, Pollard walked in to bat in the 19th over of the innings, with MI struggling at 125 for 6. CSK were in total control of the match up to that point. But in the next 2 overs, Pollard and Hardik Pandya added 45 runs which proved to be the turning point of the match.
Pollard scored 17 off just 7 balls with two huge sixes. Again while on the field, Pollard took a one-handed blinder on the point boundary to dismiss Suresh Raina. The ball seemed to have gone over Pollard’s head for a six before he plucked it out of thin air. With that catch and that quickfire knock, he made a crucial contribution to Mumbai’s win.
In the next match against the Sun Risers Hyderabad, MI were precariously placed at 63 for 4 in the 12th over when Krunal Pandya got out. Pollard struggled to reach 8 off 12 balls when Rashid Khan dropped him off the bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. That was the change in fortune Pollard was looking for.
The 31-year-old smashed Siddarth Kaul for 3 sixes in the 19th over. In the last over of the innings, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was cracked for 2 fours and one six. Pollard finished with 46 off 26 balls. His crucial innings enabled Mumbai to reach a respectable score of 136.
Debutant Alzarri Joseph knocked off SRH for 96, with a record-breaking bowling performance of 6 for 12. Pollard has made a huge contribution to Mumbai’s 2 of the 3 wins this season so far.
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