Kieron Pollard never ceases to amaze everyone with his acrobatic fielding all-around the park. Although he has grabbed umpteen unbelievable catches so far in his cricketing career, but the one-handed stunner that Pollard pulled off during the ongoing International League T20 (ILT20) tournament, surely trumps all.
MI Emirates captain Pollard added yet another near-impossible catch to his cabinet in the match against Desert Vipers in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (January 24). On the second ball of the 8th over of Desert Vipers' innings, Colin Munro hit a full toss ball from Samit Patel towards long-on where Pollard was stationed. MI Emirates captain timed his jump beautifully to grab the one-handed stunner. The MI Emirates captain timed his jump beautifully to grab the one-handed stunner. As the crowd in Abu Dhabi and the commentators expressed their disbelief at this acrobatic take from the lanky West Indian, Pollard sat on his haunched to soak it all in, and even he would have been left surprised at what he’s pulled off.
Here's the video…
However, Pollard's men ended up on the losing side after Alex Hales (62 off 44) and Sherfane Rutherford (56 off 29) came together to power the Desert Vipers to a seven-wicket win.
Desert Vipers captain Colin Munro won the toss and decided to field first. MI Emirates lost two early wickets before Andre Fletcher and Pooran added 43 runs for the third wicket. Kieron Pollard looked in sensational form with brutal hitting keeping the momentum going. Pooran and Pollard added 116 runs for the fourth wicket. The captain led from the front with an unbeaten 67 off 39 balls with one four and six sixes that helped MI Emirates post 169/5.
Colin Munro and Alex Hales looked in decent touch after losing wicket in the first over. The things looked bright for Desert Vipers before Kieron Pollard took a stunning catch at long-on to dismiss Colin Munro in the eighth over. Munro and Hales added 72 runs for the second wicket. Despite taking a stunning catch, MI Emirates could not defend the target. Desert Vipers registered a comprehensive 7-wicket win with 21 balls to spare.
Pollard, who has retired from the IPL but will continue to play in other franchise leagues, has been in superb touch in the ILT20 tournament. Despite batting lower down the order, Pollard is the leading run-scorer of the MI Emirates team, who are currently third on the points table. The big Trinidadian has scored 225 runs in 5 innings at an average of 75 and a belligerent strike rate of 177.
