All-round Pollard helps Mumbai get off the mark in the UAE

After a hat-trick of defeats, the Mumbai Indians have finally corrected course and registered their first win in the second phase of the competition in the UAE. Although Mumbai were made to sweat in their run-chase of 135, the defending champions finally got over the line thanks to contributions from Hardik Pandya and Saurabh Tiwary, and now have 10 points on the board with three games remaining.

The five-time winners have looked surprisingly off-colour in their three games in the UAE, but things finally clicked for Rohit Sharma’s side against Punjab. The bowlers did magnificently to restrict the Kings to 135 while Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya saw the side home with one over to spare.

After putting Punjab in to bat, Rohit Sharma opened with the spin of Krunal Pandya, and the left-armer used all his experience to keep the Punjab openers in check in the first six. Krunal conceded only 16 runs from his three overs in the powerplay and also picked up the wicket off Mandeep Singh after the right-hander missed a sweep shot and was trapped in front.

Rohit turned to Kieron Pollard after the powerplay, and the big West Indian bowled the defining over of the game as he removed both Chris Gayle and KL Rahul with two slower deliveries. Things went from bad to worse one over later as Nicholas Pooran also fell to Jasprit Bumrah to put the Kings in a world of bother at 48 for four.

Although Aiden Markram played some shots in his knock off 42, Punjab never recovered from the initial onslaught and had to settle for a below-par total of 135 after failing to score a boundary off the last 29 balls of the innings.

While Mumbai were expecting a fairly straightforward run-chase, things took a turn for the worse in the 3rd over as Ravi Bishnoi removed both Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav off consecutive deliveries. Sharma was caught at mid-on as he tried to release the pressure with a big shot while Suryakumar Yadav left a huge gap between bat and pad and failed to read a googly that crashed into the timber.

Mumbai managed only 30 runs in the first six, and the tensions increased in the Mumbai dugout after Quinton de Kock played one onto his stumps after a scratchy innings of 27 off 29. Saurabh Tiwary also fell as the run-rate increased, but the defending champions were once again thankful for the power-packed duo of Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya, who saw them home.

Needing 40 off the final four, Pandya hit two stunning boundaries off Shami in the 17th over before Pollard gave Arshdeep Singh the same treatment from the other end. Hardik eventually finished the game with a three boundaries in the 19^th over as Mumbai secured a much-needed win and jumped up to 5^th in the points table.