CRICKET
Pollard’s power hitting derails Chennai
A fiery Kieron Pollard entered the history books on Sunday night by helping Mumbai Indians chase down the 219-run target against table-toppers Chennai Super Kings.
Just behind Rajasthan Royal’s 226, this was the second-highest run chase in the history of the league.
The Indians clinched the win on the very last ball of the game.
The four-wicket victory will give the MI players a boost after a shaky start to the season.
The Pollard show
Kieron Pollard’s blitz of unbeaten 87 trumped half-centuries of Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis and Moeen Ali.
His one-man show never let the Chennai bowlers regain control of the game.
Pollard smashed a 17-ball fifty to register this IPL’s fastest half-century.
Rayudu rolls back the years
Ambati Rayudu was Chennai’s star performer tonight.
His 72 not out at a strike rate of 266 powered CSK to the mammoth total.
The 35-year-old hasn’t made it big for Chennai for some time, but tonight’s inning showed that he still possesses the ability to demolish the best line-ups on the given day.
Kung fu Pandyas!
The Pandya brothers scored a total of 48 to keep the pressure off Pollard.
First Krunal struck a well-made 32, and then Hardik played an important cameo of 16 at the death.
Mumbai Indians 219 for 6 (Pollard 87*, de Kock 38) beat Chennai Super Kings 218 for 4 (Rayudu 72, Moeen 58) by four wickets.
Preview: Rajasthan Royals vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Rajasthan Royals on Sunday in the 28th clash of the Indian Premier League.
The Hyderabad management has revealed that Kane Williamson will lead the side in place of David Warner at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
It is being speculated that Jason Roy might replace Warner in the opening slot.
Probable Man of the Match
Jonny Bairstow
SRH opener Jonny Bairstow has notched the most runs (218) for his side so far.
The Englishman is in phenomenal form, smacking two fifties in six games.
He has been providing blistering starts to Hyderabad in the powerplay, however, SRH have failed to capitalize on it.
He is likely to bag the Player of the Match trophy on Sunday.
Match Prediction
Rajasthan Royals have been sub-standard.
They have succumbed to pressure, thrown wickets away and leaked runs cheaply at the death.
Sanju Samson has been superb with the bat, but he has lacked support from the other hand.
Ben Stokes could have been a great help to him, but his axing due to injury has taken that away as well.
The Royals look like a team without a plan, and their rank in the points table (7th) speaks volumes of it.
Hyderabad are a worse side gauging from the points scenario.
They sit at the bottom of the table with only two points in hand.
But a change of skipper could be a breath of fresh air for SRH.
Williamson led Hyderabad in the 2018 season when Warner was barred from the league for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal.
This season, Warner has not captained well and that has affected his batting as well. Hence, an in-form Williamson is likely to help Hyderabad ace the Rajasthan test on Sunday.