Moeen Ali (58), Faf du Plessis (50), and Ambati Raydu (72no) play blistering knocks for Chennai as table toppers post 218-4 - only for Kieron Pollard to smash eight sixes and six fours as Mumbai win off last ball to complete second-highest run chase in IPL history
Sunday 2 May 2021 08:54, UK
Kieron Pollard smashed 87 not out from just 34 balls as Mumbai Indians completed the second-highest successful chase in IPL history with a last-ball, four-wicket win over table-toppers Chennai Super Kings in a run-fest.
Pollard nailed eight sixes and six fours as Mumbai countered Chennai's 218-4 with 219-6 in Delhi, sealing victory when Pollard scrambled a two off Lungi Ngidi's last delivery having smoked the previous one for six.
Defending champions Mumbai needed 16 at the start of the final over, which played out with Pollard turning down a single, striking back-to-back fours, turning down another single, swatting a full toss into the stands over square leg and then completing a second run after clipping to long-on.
We built this match as El Clasico of the IPL. You want to be able to come out and perform in these sort of matches. For me, it's just a matter of doing what I can do - playing to my strengths, doing what the team requires at any given time and trying to evolve as a cricketer.
Mumbai's chase is behind only the 226-6 Rajasthan Royals achieved against Punjab Kings in the UAE last season and snapped Chennai's five-match winning streak in dramatic style as Indians rallied from 84-3 after 11 overs to score the required 135 from the final 54 balls.
Pollard - dropped on 68 by Faf du Plessis - was the catalyst but there were also cameos from Pandya brothers Krunal (32 off 23) and Hardik (16 off 7) as fifties for Ambati Rayudu (72no off 27), England's Moeen Ali (58 off 36) and Du Plessis (50 off 28) came in vain for Chennai.
Moeen struck five sixes and as many fours during a rollicking second-wicket stand of 108 from 61 balls with Du Plessis before Rayudu proved even more destructive as he hit seven sixes during an unbroken partnership of 102 from 56 balls with Ravindra Jadeja (22no off 22) for the fifth wicket.
Super Kings lost three wickets for four runs once Moeen was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah (1-56) to slip from 112-1 in the 11th over to 116-4 in the 12th but Rayudu's onslaught saw them plunder 92 from their final six overs and Bumrah record the most expensive IPL spell of his career.
Moeen then caught and bowled Quinton de Kock (38 off 28) as Mumbai tumbled from a promising 71-0 to 81-3 in their massive chase, only for Pollard - who had earlier claimed two wickets during the Chennai wobble - to turn the game on its head with some astonishing hitting.
The West Indian dominated an 89-run alliance from 44 balls with Krunal, during which time he hit the fastest fifty of the IPL season, from 17 balls, and thumped three sixes off Jadeja in the 13th over, two off Ngidi in the 14th and four boundaries off Shardul Thakur in the 15th.
Krunal's two fours and a six off Ngidi in the 16th over reduced the requirement to 50 needed from 24 balls but Sam Curran (3-34) swung things back Chennai's way in a two-run 17th over in which he trapped Krunal lbw with a pinpoint yorker.
Pollard then took Thakur's 18th over for 17 runs but should have been caught at long-on, where Du Plessis made a rare - and crucial - error.
Hardik creamed Curran for back-to-back sixes in the 19th before the England all-rounder removed his Indian counterpart and New Zealander Jimmy Neesham (0), both men caught in the deep.
Pollard was crucially on strike for the final over and completed a stunning win for Mumbai as South Africa seamer Ngidi bowled a number of full tosses en route to eye-watering figures of 0-62 from four overs.
Defeat was cruel on Moeen, Du Plessis and Rayudu, whose half-centuries came from 33, 27 and 20 balls respectively, but Chennai were just blown away by Pollard in a classic.
Watch an IPL double header on Sky Sports Cricket on Sunday. Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad is at 10.50am followed by Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals from 2.50pm.
