IPL 2019: Kieron Pollard's special knock takes Mumbai Indians to a thrilling win over Kings XI Punjab
Mumbai Indians defeated Kings XI Punjab by three wickets in a last-ball thriller at the Wankedhe Stadium, Mumbai on Wednesday.
Kieron Pollard won the toss and decided to field first. It was a slow start by Chris Gayle and KL Rahul in the first few overs. After a quite start, Kings XI Punjab openers took on the Mumbai Indians bowler with some clean hitting. At the end of six overs, the visitors were 50 for 0.
After the power play overs, Chris Gayle and KL Rahul showed their class with some big hitting. Gayle reached his half-century off 31 balls while KL Rahul reached his fifty off 41 balls. Jason Behrendroff got the big breakthrough by dismissing Chris Gayle for 63. Gayle and KL Rahul added 116 runs in 12.5 overs.
Mumbai Indians came back into the game after the wickets of David Miller, Karun Nair, and Sam Curran. KL Rahul then took on Hardik Pandya hitting 23 runs off the 19th over. It was an amazing batting by the opener, who reached his maiden IPL century off 64 balls. Kings XI Punjab posted a competitive total of 197 for 4 in 20 overs.
Chasing the target of 198 runs to win, Siddhesh Lad and Quinton de Kock provided a brisk start. Shami got the early breakthrough by dismissing Siddhesh Lad for 15 runs. Suryakumar Yadav and Quinton de Kock played with positive intent. At the end of six overs, Mumbai Indians were 50 for 1.
After the power play overs, Sam Curran dismissed Suryakumar Yadav and then R Ashwin dismissed Quinton de Kock to put Kings XI Punjab in complete control. Kieron Pollard came to the crease and took few balls to settle while Ishan Kishan was dismissed for 7 runs off 10 balls.
Pollard took on the Kings XI Punjab bowlers and smashed them to all parts of the ground. Hardik Pandya scored 19 off 13 balls before Shami dismissed him and Krunal Pandya in the same over.
Pollard was severe on Kings XI Punjab bowlers and reached his fifty off just 22 balls. Alzarri Joseph also contributed some valuable runs. It was an sensational hitting by Kieron Pollard who just decimated Sam Curran. With 15 runs required off last over, Pollard hit a six off a no ball and then hit a boundary off the free hit.
Ankit Rajpoot dismissed Pollard for a brilliant 83 off 31 balls. With 2 runs needed off 1 ball, Joseph hit the winning runs and helped Mumbai Indians win the match by 3 wickets.
Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 198 for 7 in 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 83, de Kock 24, Mohammed Shami 3/21, Vijolen 1/34) beat Kings XI Punjab 197 for 4 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 100*, Chris Gayle 63, Hardik Pandya 2/57, Bumrah 1/35) by 3 wickets.
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