IPL 2021 | MI vs CSK: What Experts after Kieron Pollard's carnage ends Chennai

Defending champions Mumbai Indians and IPL’s second-most successful side Chennai Super Kings produced an exciting encounter for the fans on Saturday in Delhi at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. 

Batting first CSK rode on some brutal batting from Ambati Rayudu who scored 72* off 27 that included seven maximums and four boundaries to post 218/4 in 20 overs. 

Apart from Rayudu, Faf du Plessis and Moeen Ali too chipped in with individual fifties to make valuable contributions with the bat. Jasprit Bumrah had a tough day at the office after he gave away 56 runs in 4 overs picking up one wicket, his worst figures in the cash-rich league.

Apart from Bumrah, Dhawal Kulkarni was hit for 48 runs in his 4 overs while Trent Boult returned with figures of 1/42 in 4 overs. 

In reply, MI started off the chase with captain Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock putting up 71 for the first wicket before Sharma departed for 35 off 24. 

Mumbai then lost a couple of wickets more to get reduced to 81/3 in the 10th over before Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya joined hands to stitch a stand of 89 runs for the fourth wicket. Mumbai looked to have derailed in the fag end of the innings after Krunal was trapped in front of the stumps by Sam Curran for 32 off 23, but with Pollard in the crease, the show was not over. 

Pollard carried on with his carnage and hammered CSK bowlers all around the park scoring 87 off 34 that included 8 sixes and six boundaries. The right-hander West Indian batsman took MI over the line by 4 wickets, on the last ball of the match. 

The Calypso batsman was given a let-off after Faf du Plessis dropped a catch in the deep at a crucial stage, and he made full use of it in the final over, chasing 16 runs from the last five balls.

Curran was the most successful bowler for CSK who scalped three wickets for 34 runs in 4 overs. 

Captain’s corner

CSK captain MS Dhoni talked about the pitch and admitted that it did have a lot to offer to the batsmen and also pointed out that the dropping catches cost CSK the match. Faf du Plessis dropped Pollard at a crucial stage. 

“It was a brilliant wicket. The difference was the execution. Not being too tough on bowlers, we dropped catches at crucial intervals. The bowlers would execute better and learn from this. If you look how it went, we were very off target when it came to execution. It is important to do that. The wicket was easy to hit. In a tournament like this, you will win and lose a few close games. When you are under the pump, you learn a lot. Irrespective of where we are in the points table, we take one game at a time,” he said. 

Dhoni also hailed Pollard for his mind blowing knock and also appreciated Sam Curran for his bowling efforts in Delhi. 

“Pollard, literally, out-muscled CSK with the bat in his hand. With a small ground and a batting-friendly pitch to his advantage, the Caribbean kept hitting boundaries for fun. He smashed a 17-ball fifty and single-handedly took his team over the line. Curran bowled a brilliant 17th over and Ngidi kept doling out full tosses in the final over, but there was one decisive moment - Faf dropped the big man on 68 in the 18th over and the T20 veteran ensured that Chennai paid dearly for that. Mumbai needed 105 off the last 7 overs and Pollard pulled off a spectacular win. Hang around for the presentations,” he added. 

MI skipper Rohit Sharma lavished praise on Pollard’s match-winning innings and also hailed the team for the efforts in the middle. 

“Probably one of the best T20 games that I have ever been part of. I have never seen a chase like that before. One of the best innings from Polly. Brilliant to see that from outside. Very happy with the effort the boys put in. Good pitch, smaller ground, we wanted to stay positive once we finished those 20 overs. We got off to a decent start and then we saw what happened. We had a brief chat during the interval in which we said it's a good pitch, back yourselves. We've got shot-makers in our batting line-up, so we just wanted to go there and express ourselves,” he said. 

Rohit and de Kock started the proceedings well after putting up a partnership of 71 runs for the first wicket while Krunal Pandya and Pollard steadied the ship for the side after MI had few hiccups in the middle. 

“Talking about the same, Rohit credited Krunal and Pollard for the stand that brought them back on track. 

“A brilliant partnership at the top, then the Krunal-Pollard partnership was crucial to get to the target. When you're chasing a high score, you want your power-hitters to bat as many balls as possible. But we totally back Krunal to do the job as well. He's a good batter, he's batting really well, so we wanted to give him the opportunity. And left-handers always make a difference, they had an off-spinner but we wanted to make sure that they bat as long as possible and set the platform for guys like Polly, Hardik in the back end. It (Delhi pitch) suits our style of play. Yes, the bowlers will be under pressure but that's when you want to back your bowlers to get the job done,” he added. 

Experts’ opinion

Commentator Harsha Bhogle labelled Pollard’s innings as incredible and also appreciated Sam Curran’s bowling performance during the course. 

Journalist Boria Majumdar also praised Pollard for his knock and said that he played an “excellent” inning to bring MI back into the game. 

Journalist Ayaz Memon was all in praise for MI for the way they chased down the total. 

TV journalist Vikrant Gupta explained why the clash between MI and CSK is called the ‘El Clasico’ of IPL. 

MI will now play SRH on Tuesday while CSK will be taking on RR on Wednesday in Delhi.