IPL 2017: Match Winner Kieron Pollard Praises Pandya Brothers Post A Tight Win Over RCB
Apr 14, 2017 at 9:51 PM
In his first match of this year’s IPL, Kieron Pollard, the Mumbai Indians all-rounder lost the game for his franchise, as he conceded two back to back sixes and helped Rising Pune Supergiant come on top.
In the next two games, Pollard could just manage to score 28 runs, with youngsters taking on the responsibility to win the game.
Skipper Rohit Sharma though continued to show faith in him and retained the all-rounder in hope of some magic and on Friday, the patience to resist with Pollard paid off, as he pulled the game in his team’s favour, from a situation where he was alone on one side at initial stages to be joined by Krunal Pandya later.
In the chase to a target of 143, Mumbai Indians was four down with a score of seven, thanks to Samuel Badree’s hat-trick, who toppled Mumbai’s top order.
Pollard and Nitish Rana were just adding singles and double to the total, batting below the run-rate of six. Rana’s dismissal meant that visitors were five down and this further gave an indication that Bangalore will win this match, but Rana’s wicket proved to be blessing in disguise for Mumbai Indians.
The elder Pandya came to the crease and started making runs for the team. This gave confidence to Kieron and the West Indies soon got in the groove. He got his Midas touch back and put his team on brink of an unbelievable win.
The win wouldn’t have been possible had Krunal wasn’t there to set the tone with the hard-hitting West Indian. The Carribean player was in all awe of Krunal and called him a matured player. He also praised Pandya brothers for their contribution to the team. Here is what Pollard said after the win –
Kieron Pollard:
“First of all, I would want to thank my wife. She has been keeping me sane for the last couple of months. These are situations where champions are made. These are situations where you want to be on the top. I backed my ability and hoped to take it as deep as I could. He(Krunal) came in and showed maturity. Last year he came in and did the same. These Pandyas have been doing really well. It is a matter of watching what bowlers they have. I knew Mills is their best bowler. So, we decided to keep ticking the run rate over and not play dot balls. That was the plan and am glad it came through. This is the best start for us in a couple of years. These are the situations where you dig in deep. This is T20. We have the momentum with us and would want to carry on.”
Skipper Rohit Sharma also praised his team and here is what he said after the win –
Rohit Sharma:
“I think it was a great effort with the bat. We always had that belief, when you find yourselves in such a situation, we have had guys who can pull you up and change the momentum. Great batting from Polly and Krunal. It was important to get that partnership after losing a few wickets. Such a heavy batting line-up. We did our plans really well. The first six overs were brilliant followed by the middle overs. We bowled to their weaknesses. All the bowlers came together and complemented each other. When you have guys executing the plans, it becomes easier. We hope to continue the momentum into the next few games as well.”