CHENNAI, India, CMC – Kieron Pollard, Man of the Match, smashed a late-order gameo and then sent down two misleading pillars during the crucial middle period as reigning champions Mumbai Indians defended a modest 150 to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad from 13 runs to in the Indian Premier League here yesterday.
Playing at Chidambaram MA Stadium, the West Indies white-ball captain grabbed 22 unbeaten 35 balls with four and three sixes, a knock that drove Mumbai to 150 for five off their 20 overs.
In response, Sunrisers received a top score of 43 from Englishman Johnny Bairstow and 36 from Australian opening partner David Warner, the pair posting 67 for the first wicket.
However, 21-year-old spinner Rahul Chahar (3-19) and New Zealand left-arm controller Trent Boult (3-28) picked up three-wicket hauls to engineer a collapse that saw the last eight wickets fall 47 runs Sunrisers dismissed for 137 with two balls to spare.
The victory clinched Mumbai at the top of the league with four points while Sunrisers remained at rock bottom with three defeats in as many outings.
Openers Quinton de Kock (40) and Rohit Sharma (32) netted 55 off 39 deliveries after Mumbai opted to bat first, leaving Sunrisers on its toes.
De Kock’s left wing struck out in a 39-ball knock while Rohit belted a pair of forty-six off 25 balls before he was first picked out, pulled on the middle of a deep wicket off sailor Vijay Shankar (2- 19).
De Kock then added another 27 for the third wicket with Ishan Kishan (10) before coming the first of two wickets for Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2-29) of Afghanistan, at 98 for three in the 14th over.
With the pubs stopping, Pollard arrived to speed up the scoring, ending the innings with two sixes in a row off controller Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Sunrisers appeared on track for an easy win when Bairstow tallied three fours and four sixes in a 22-ball knock and left-Warner added two fours and six off 34 balls.
But Bairstow turned on his steals in the eighth over and Manish Pandey followed in the ninth for two, before Pollard dried the scoring in two consecutive overs, the first of which cost just three runs.
Warner’s demise in the 12th over of Pollard, which ended at the end of the striker seeking a high-risk single, proved the catalyst for the Sunrisers’ collapse.