Rajasthan Royals pulled one of the greatest chases beating Mumbai Indians by eight wickets at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Kieron Pollard & Co failed to defend 195 runs in front of Ben Stokes’ carnage.
Chasing a mammoth total, Rajasthan Royals were in tatters losing Robin Uthappa early. But Ben Stokes kept up with the asking rate hitting the boundaries before James Pattinson sent Steve Smith packing. Striving at 44 for two, Stokes and Sanju Samson were at their personal best to chase down the target with 10 balls to share.
Mumbai lose points against Rajasthan
Stokes smacked 107 off 60 balls while Samson remained unbeaten on 54 balls to pull off one of the greatest heists in IPL history. With this win, Rajasthan Royals kept their hopes alive to make it to the IPL 2020 playoffs.
Mumbai Indians posted a massive total on the back of Hardik Pandya’s belligerent knock. Quinton de Kock smashed a cracking six against Jofra in the first over, but he was sent back to the pavilion on the very next ball. Ishan Kishan struggled to get going, but Suryakumar Yadav played a fluent knock of 40 that laid the foundation in the first half of the innings.
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They batted really well – Kieron Pollard
Mumbai Indians did lose wickets in a flurry in the middle overs, but the partnership between Saurabh Tiwary and Hardik Pandya helped Mumbai get their innings back on track. Ankit Rajpoot was at the receiving end of some Pandya punishment as he conceded 60 runs in 4 overs. And towards the end, it was all about Hardik. As a result of his insane hitting, Mumbai Indians have managed to 195 runs.
Speaking at the end of the game, Kieron Pollard credited the opposition batters to put up a brilliant show against some quality bowling attack.
“I thought they batted well. Hardik brought us straight back in the game with that knock at the halfway stage. We could have got a couple of wickets more, but the wicket ended up becoming a little better,” Kieron Pollard said.
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Furthermore, Kieron Pollard also spoke highly on Hardik Pandya, who played a blinder. The veteran all-rounder said it is unlucky to end up on the losing side after that blistering knock.
“He (Hardik) went out and scored 60* off 21, an innings like that and we end up on the losing side, that’s just tough luck,” he added.
