Kieron Pollard guides Mumbai to top of the table
Mumbai
Indians players celebrate their win with top scorer Kieron Pollard
during the IPL 6 match against Sunrisers Hydrabad in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)
MUMBAI: Kieron Pollard hit eight sixes off 27 balls, apart from two fours, and finished on an unbeaten 66 to engineer the most remarkable turnaround for Mumbai Indians on Monday night.
Chasing Hyderabad's 178, Mumbai seemed to be floundering and the Sunrisers had their noses ahead till as late as the 16th over, when Pollard turned the game around.
Off one Thisara Perera over, the 17th of the innings, Mumbai hit four sixes and one four - Rohit Sharma chipping in with a six, the rest being hammered by Pollard - and Sunrisers lost the plot.
Amit Mishra's next over yielded three sixes as Pollard's swinging blade fashioned a seven-wicket win to take Mumbai to the top of the points table and virtually qualify for the playoffs. Mumbai needed 62 runs off the last four overs but Pollard made it look easy as Mumbai finished on 184/3 with 3 balls remaining!
Skipper Rohit Sharma remained unbeaten on 20 in a partnership of 85 runs in 6.1 overs. and the win also ensured that the fortress called Wankhede remained unbreached in seven games. Sachin Tendulkar retired hurt when on 38 (31 balls, 3x4, 1x6) and Dinesh Karthik scored a breezy 30(23balls, 4x4).
Earlier, in a must-win game, the Sunrisers Hyderabad came out all guns blazing, smashing the ball with gay abandon to race to 178/3. The Sunrisers' charge was led by opener Shikhar Dhawan, whose cracking form bodes well for India going into the Champions Trophy.
The attacking left-hander stroked a sublime 41-ball 59 (6x4, 2x6) to leave the innings in pretty good shape. Dhawan's opening partner Parthiv Patel led the initial charge, making a stroke-filled 26 off just 14 balls (5x4). Parthiv, in fact, began the onslaught right away, stroking four boundaries off Mitchell Johnson as the first over cost MI 19 runs.
Parthiv's cameo was followed by a calm, composed effort from youngster Hanuma Vihari, who took 37 balls for his 41 (4x4), and a 23-ball, unbeaten 43 by skipper Cameron White.
White finished the Hyderabad innings in style by smashing the off colour Dhawal Kulkarni, brought back for this game at the expense of Abu Nechim, for a six over cover off the last ball of the innings. Recovering from a prolonged form slump, White finally came good when it mattered, smashing three fours and an equal number of sixes to provide the perfect finishing touches to the innings. But his knock didn't account for Pollard's heroics in the end.
Chasing Hyderabad's 178, Mumbai seemed to be floundering and the Sunrisers had their noses ahead till as late as the 16th over, when Pollard turned the game around.
Off one Thisara Perera over, the 17th of the innings, Mumbai hit four sixes and one four - Rohit Sharma chipping in with a six, the rest being hammered by Pollard - and Sunrisers lost the plot.
Amit Mishra's next over yielded three sixes as Pollard's swinging blade fashioned a seven-wicket win to take Mumbai to the top of the points table and virtually qualify for the playoffs. Mumbai needed 62 runs off the last four overs but Pollard made it look easy as Mumbai finished on 184/3 with 3 balls remaining!
Skipper Rohit Sharma remained unbeaten on 20 in a partnership of 85 runs in 6.1 overs. and the win also ensured that the fortress called Wankhede remained unbreached in seven games. Sachin Tendulkar retired hurt when on 38 (31 balls, 3x4, 1x6) and Dinesh Karthik scored a breezy 30(23balls, 4x4).
Earlier, in a must-win game, the Sunrisers Hyderabad came out all guns blazing, smashing the ball with gay abandon to race to 178/3. The Sunrisers' charge was led by opener Shikhar Dhawan, whose cracking form bodes well for India going into the Champions Trophy.
The attacking left-hander stroked a sublime 41-ball 59 (6x4, 2x6) to leave the innings in pretty good shape. Dhawan's opening partner Parthiv Patel led the initial charge, making a stroke-filled 26 off just 14 balls (5x4). Parthiv, in fact, began the onslaught right away, stroking four boundaries off Mitchell Johnson as the first over cost MI 19 runs.
Parthiv's cameo was followed by a calm, composed effort from youngster Hanuma Vihari, who took 37 balls for his 41 (4x4), and a 23-ball, unbeaten 43 by skipper Cameron White.
White finished the Hyderabad innings in style by smashing the off colour Dhawal Kulkarni, brought back for this game at the expense of Abu Nechim, for a six over cover off the last ball of the innings. Recovering from a prolonged form slump, White finally came good when it mattered, smashing three fours and an equal number of sixes to provide the perfect finishing touches to the innings. But his knock didn't account for Pollard's heroics in the end.
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