IPL 2021: Match 27, MI vs CSK – Who Said What

The 27^th match of the Indian Premier League saw action between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. The match stood upright on all the expectations as it was expected to be a humdinger of the event. MI bagged the thriller by four wickets in the end. Winning the toss, Mumbai invited CSK to build up with bats first. Faf Du Plessis (50) and Moeen Ali (58) were building quite well for CSK until the real hammering began.

Kieron Pollard was declared as the player of the match for his magnificent show while bringing the fastest fifty of the season. He also helped his team while scalping two crucial wickets. Ambati Rayudu was the real showman for CSK tonight as he smashed 72 off 27 to push CSK to post impressive 218 runs on the board.

While chasing the target, Quinton de Kock (38) and Rohit Sharma (35) set the fine tone for MI. However, Pollard appeared in a perfect mood today as he brought an unreal knock to the display. He smashed 87* off 34 deliveries to push MI over the line in a stunning fashion. Sam Curran picked three wickets for CSK in the game.

Losing skipper, MS Dhoni said:

It was a brilliant wicket. The difference was the execution. Not being too tough on bowlers, we dropped catches at crucial intervals. The bowlers would execute better and learn from this. If you look how it went. we were very off target when it came to execution. It is important to do that. The wicket was easy to hit. In a tournament like this, you will win and lose a few close games. When you are under the pump, you learn a lot. Irrespective where we are in the points table, we take one game at a time. We hardly ever focus where we are standing on the table. That has been our good point along the way.

Winning Skipper, Rohit Sharma said:

Probably one of the T20 games that I have ever been part of. I have never seen a chase like that before. One of best innings from Polly. Brilliant to see from outside. Good pitch, smaller ground, we wanted to stay positive once we finished the 20 overs. We got a decent start and then we saw what happened. We just wanted to go there and express ourselves. A brilliant partnership at the top, the Krunal-Pollard partnership was crucial too. When chasing a high score, you want your power-hitters to bat as many balls as possible. But we back Krunal to do the job as well. It (Delhi) suits our style of play. You want to back your bowlers to get the job done. The bowlers brought us back into the game against Rajasthan. It’s all about backing your core group of bowlers and I am sure they’ll get the job done more often.

Player of the match, Kieron Pollard said:

 I want to thank god, uncle Steven, giving me the strength. They just lost Moeen, it was the best tome for a seamer to come and bowl. It worked, I got two wickets and another over. They had four overs of spin to bowl on a small ground, I was trying to hit them. I had to maximise against Jadeja. Couple of sixes were always going to keep us in the game. You have to evolve, lot of practice goes into it. That has helped me. I can’t say I’m 360, I am maximising more angles in the field. Dhawal’s decent with the bat, but I needed to bat six balls. That’s the pressure you need to take as an individual. We have done this time and time again. We got over the line today, fortunately, Faf gave me the chase. Overall, a good wicket.