Kieron Pollard’s blitzkrieg innings of unbeaten 87 off 34 balls helped Mumbai register their highest successful run-chase in the Indian T20 League history as the defending champions defeated Chennai by four wickets in a last-ball thriller at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Saturday. This was Kieron Pollard’s highest score in Indian T20 League.
Chasing a mammoth target of 219, Kieron Pollard walked into bat with his side reeling at 81/3, as Mumbai still required 138 runs in 60 balls.
The West Indies batsman then took charge and hammered the bowlers into submission.
He added 89 for the fourth wicket with Krunal Pandya (32 off 23 balls) and got to his fifty in just 17 balls with a couple of boundaries on successive balls off Shardul Thakur.
With 47 runs needed in the last three overs, the Pollard-led Mumbai took 17 runs off the 18th over bowled by Thakur, 15 off the 19th over bowled by Sam Curran and 16 off the last over bowled by Lungi Ngidi to take the five-time champions over the line.
"I can't say I'm 360, but I am maximising it [angles in the field]," said Pollard after winning player of the match award on Saturday.
"They have four overs of spin on a small ground and I looked to hit some sixes against spin. I had to maximise that over from Jadeja. That would always keep us in the game," added Pollard.
Kieron Pollard best score in Indian T20 League
| Match | Runs scored | Match Date |
| Match 27, Mumbai vs Chennai | 87* | 1 May 2021 |
| Match 24, Mumbai vs Punjab | 83 | 10 April 2021 |
| Match 20, Mumbai vs Hyderabad | 89 | 30 April, 2014 |
Interestingly, 138 runs scored in the last 10 overs in the match is the most by a team in a successful run-chase.
Meanwhile, defending champions Mumbai will take on bottom-placed Hyderabad at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.
Featured photo: IPL/BCCI
