IPL 2021: James Neesham reacts on bagging a golden duck against CSK

On Saturday, May 3, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) were up against each other in a nail-biting affair at the Arun Jaitely Stadium in Delhi. The fans were thoroughly entertained as Mumbai Indians managed to clinch the game at the very last ball of the clash owing to the exploits by Kieron Pollard. It was the Pollard storm that completely blew the Super Kings away and managed to snatch the victory for MI from the jaws of defeat. 

Meanwhile, MI’s new recruit James Neesham became a subject of conversation among the cricket fans as many were of the opinion that the batsman’s dismissal on the golden duck put Pollard under a lot of pressure. Neesham came to bat at number seven after Hardik Pandya lost his wicket. Facing the last ball of the 19th over by Sam Curran, Neesham tried to send the ball out of the boundary but got caught by Shardul Thakur at long leg.

The same resulted in the New Zealand all-rounder marching back to the pavilion on a golden duck. A few fans didn’t seem impressed with Neesham’s conduct on the field with the willow and took to Twitter to express their views. Neesham, who is quite active on social media, finally broke his silence on the matter as he took to his official Twitter handle to give a fitting reply to all the trollers.

“Here’s the thing a lot of you don’t seem to understand: I would rather get a golden duck taking an option that gives my team the best chance of winning than getting a not-out-taking option that preserves my personal record,” James Neesham tweeted.

Here’s the thing a lot of you don’t seem to understand: I would rather get a golden duck taking an option that gives my team the best chance of winning, than get a not out taking an option that preserves my personal record 🤷‍♂️

— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) May 2, 2021

Kieron Pollard emerges as a wrecker-in-chief for MI

Batting first, CSK took the opposition bowlers to the cleaners as they posted a massive total of 218 runs on the scoreboard. Ambati Rayudu was the highest run-getter for the three-time champion as he smashed a stunning 72 runs in just 27 balls including four boundaries and seven maximums.

Chasing 219, MI got off to a decent start as Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock scored 35 and 38 runs respectively. In the middle, CSK managed to pull the momentum back as they took some crucial wickets. However, Pollard caused carnage on the field to hammer 87* runs in 34 balls and ensured a victory to MI.

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