Published: May 22, 2017, 01:12 PM (IST)
Edited: May 22, 2017, 01:01 PM (IST)
With just 130 runs as target for Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), lifting the trophy for the third time looked bleak for Mumbai Indians (MI) at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday. However, MI came with an intent to defend the modest score despite RPS comprising of big names like Steven Smith, Ajinkya Rahane and MS Dhoni. But the story went down to the wire and it was not just the bowlers who rose to the occasion but also the fielders who complemented them. MI achieved the unthinkable. In the 10 years of this league, Mumbai became the first team to lift the trophy for the third time. Full Cricket Scorecard: Rising Pune Supergiant vs Mumbai Indians, IPL 2017 Final at Hyderabad
Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu caught some brilliant catches to dismiss Smith and Manoj Tiwary. Rayudu turned into an iplt20 / BCCI journalist and took the opportunity to interview Pollard. The Trinidadian emphasised on the importance of fielding especially when the total is below-par. “Fielding is an integral part of T20 cricket and as we saw today, you don’t have much runs on the board and fielding was what made the difference. In the big final, this is where the big players stand up and especially in the fielding,” Pollard said.
He also took the opportunity to turn into a reporter for once and asked Rayudu what was going through his mind while he took the catch to dismiss Smith in the final over. “I had certainly lost the ball in the lights momentarily, and as a result had to stretch and realign himself, spotted the ball in the nick of time and eventually held on to it,” Rayudu concluded.
