Mumbai Indians (MI) may be tempted to ask Kieron Pollard to take a U-turn on his retirement as the Caribbean all-rounder is still smashing the ball a long way consistently. On August 27, Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) skipper went ballistic against Afghanistan teenager in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) clash against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.
Pollard made Warner Park look like Chinnaswamy Stadium and hit four consecutive sixes that were over 100 metres. In the 15th over of Trinbago's run chase, Pollard punished the short ball by Izharulhaq Naveed. The 19-year-old followed it up with a no-ball. On the free-hit delivery, Pollard took a couple of runs.
The second six of the over was 107 metre. He went on the back foot and smashed it over mid-wicket. On the penultimate ball of the over, Pollard went on the back foot and hit it over deep mid-wicket for a 102-metre six. He finished the over with another six over deep mid-wicket as Naveed bowled a short one.
28 runs came off the 15th over. Naveed finished with 50 runs from his quota of four overs. All of a sudden, Trinbago were dominating in the run chase. Later, Andre Russell hit a couple of sixes as well to make it a one-sided affair. In the 18th over, Pollard hit one over deep square leg to finish the run chase with 17 balls to spare.
Trinbago won the match with six wickets in hand. Pollard remained unbeaten for 37 off 16 balls including five sixes. On the other end, Russell scored 23 runs from eight fours including two fours and as many sixes.
“The way we approached the chase, Pooran-Tucker partnership and we spoke about how we want to play the innings in two halves. We also talked about finishing games and Russell and I were there in the end to see it off. It's about understanding and knowing when to pull the trigger,” Pollard said in the post-match presentation.
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