IPL 2021: Pollard, Pandya Power Mumbai To 6 Wicket Win Against Punjab

Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya powered Mumbai Indians to a six-wicket win over Punjab Kings in the 42nd match of IPL 2021 in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. 

Chasing a target of 136, MI was in a spot of bother early in the innings as it lost Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav in the third over with the score reading 16. Mumbai managed to score just 30 in the powerplay. 

Quinton de Kock and Saurabh Tiwary shared a crucial 45 run partnership in 37 balls to revive the inning. de Kock scored 27 off 29 before Mohammed Shami clean bowled him in the 10th over. 

Tiwary continued to anchor the innings as he scored 45 off 37 with the help of three fours and two sixes. He added 31 from 32 balls with Pandya for the fourth wicket. 

When Pollard and Pandya joined the crease, the match was very much in the balance, and the former was not hitting the ball very well. However, the two stuck around and smashed their way to an unbeaten 45 run partnership in 23 balls. Pollard hit 15 off seven balls while Pandya, who finished the match with a six, smashed 40 from 30 balls with the help of four fours and two sixes. 

Earlier, Punjab was asked to bat first, and found it tough to score in the powerplay and only managed 38 while losing one wicket. However, the Kings lost three wickets in quick succession just after the powerplay and got reduced to 4/48 in the eighth over. 

Deepak Hooda and Aiden Markram revived the innings with a 47-ball-61 run partnership for the fifth wicket. Markram was the aggressor among the two as he smashed 42 from 29 balls with the help of six fours. 

However, Punjab's innings once again faltered as they failed to finish well and only managed 135/6 at the end. 

Brief Scorecard: 

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Punjab Kings - 135/6 (Aiden Markram - 42; Kieron Pollard - 8/2) 
Mumbai Indians - 137/4 in 19 overs (Saurabh Tiwary - 45; Ravi Bishnoi - 2/25)