Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey
After an anti-climatic Super Over against RCB, Mumbai Indians bounced back with full power-packed performance against Kings XI Punjab in Abu Dhabi. Kieron Pollard’s stunning 42 (20) helped MI set a target of 191 runs and bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and Krunal Pandya’s tight overs pulled off the team beyond the finishing line.
Pollard, who became the Man of the match said, “Feels good. Obviously we were on the losing end last game so we wanted to come out and get over the line. After 15 overs we had 100 or so so we needed to step it up. Try to pick your match-ups, try to pick your bowlers. Try to analyse the game. We knew we had a couple of overs from spinners, and we were going to maximum against them. It is good to see Hardik Pandya striking well. You want him to come out and hit. Looking forward to Sharjah. But we need to bat the situation and not the ground.”
Hardik Pandya, who was the non-striker while Pollard played his big shots, praised the player for his consistent batting. “The number of times Pollard and I have done this, I’ve always enjoyed it. It was a clear message for me that I had to go and get some big runs at the end and get to a total that the Kings XI (would) find difficult. We didn’t aim for 192, but we were lucky enough that the big man (Pollard) has done it again”, he said in post-match interactions.
The team’s captain also showed satisfaction from the team’s performance, especially after losing the match to RCB due to a low spell in Super Over. “Was a great win. We didn’t start really well, but we knew, the kind of attack Punjab has, we wanted to capitalise on that towards the back end. Hardik and Pollard back themselves to get those runs in the end. They have done that on many occasions. It is nice to have them in form. Overall very happy with the batting performances. we knew it wasn’t going to be easy with the ball. We knew taking early wickets was crucial. We did that. The captain looks good when the bowlers execute plans well. Feels good to get to 5000 runs. I didn’t look much into it. Winning the game was more important”, he said.
Written by Anjali Jha. Follow Anjali on Twitter today.
