Published: May 12, 2017, 10:12 AM (IST)
Edited: May 12, 2017, 10:14 AM (IST)
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), who were looking down-and-out a couple of games earlier in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017, have now risen to the occasion and almost have one foot in the playoffs. KXIP took on the in-form Mumbai Indians (MI) in their final home game of the season at Wankhede last evening. Thanks to brilliant knocks from Wriddhiman Saha and Glenn Maxwell, KXIP acquired a humongous total of 230 runs. Chasing 231 to win, it was the Caribbean pair of Lendl Simmons and Kieron Pollard that kept the hosts in the hunt. Pollard, who struck an unbeaten 50 off 24 balls, remained till the very end of the match that saw his side lose out by just 7 runs. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD, Delhi Daredevils vs Rising Pune Supergiant – Match 52
In an interview to IPLT20.com/BCCI, Pollard spoke in length about the match. “You know I think so it was a very good wicket, as you can see a lot of runs were scored. I also think it was a very good cricket match as well. In T20 cricket, when a side scores 230, most often than not you don’t give yourself a chance. So I think we [Mumbai Indians] were very good to get as close as possible and overall so very good game of cricket,” Pollard explained.
Speaking about MI’s loss after a string of wins, Pollard said, “Just proved that we’re humans, we can’t go and win each and every game. But as I said we keep improving, we had a, you know, dismal performance against Sunrisers. And I think we bounced back pretty well. There is no need to panic, you know in life there is always someone else worst off than you, so for us we should keep our heads high, we have qualified.”
Pollard, who nearly won the game for his side, was of the view that such pressure situations are what a player prepares for. “These are the moments that you practice for. This is what professional sport and cricket is all about. For us, you know once in the middle the pressure is not that hard as actually watching it. You know for me, I was actually in the middle so it was pretty easy,” he stated.
“You have a job to do and try to do that job to the best of your ability,” Pollard concluded.
