IPL 6: Pollard powers Mumbai Indians to victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad

Kieron Pollard39s blistering unbeaten 27ball 66 on Monday all but assured Mumbai Indians of a playoff berth after the hosts defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets in their Pepsi Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede stadium Chasing 179 to win Pollard snatched victory from the jaws of defeat as the bighitting West Indian smashed six huge sixes off successive overs bowled by Thisara Perera and Amit Mishra to bring down the equation from 62 required off 24 balls to 13 off 12 Kieron Pollard went berserk hitting 66 runs off just 27 balls to take Mumbai to a comprehensive win over Hyderabad at the Wankhede on Mondayu00a0 Pollard was at his destructive best as he decisively swung the match in his team39s favour after Sachin Tendulkar retired hurt for a 31ball 38 in the 12th over and Mumbai lost two quick wickets to be left at 100 for three in 14 overs When Tendulkar walked off the field cramping up in his left hand Mumbai still needed 84 off 48 balls The hosts suffered a double blow as they lost Karthik in the same over bringing two new players at the crease Leggie Karan Sharmau00a0was the pick of the Hyderabad bowlers picking 2 for 22 off his three overs Pollard forged an unconquered 85run partnership in just 37 deliveries for the fourth wicket with skipper Rohit Sharma who made an unbeaten 15ball 20 to romp his side home with three balls to spare Sharma was reduced to a mere spectator as it was Pollard who took the onus on himself and decorated his innings with two fours and eight massive sixes Till the 16th over the script was perfectly going the way Sunrisers wanted it but Pollard changed the complexion of the game with his power hitting Requiring 62 off the last four the game changed hands as Perera was plundered for 29 runs in the 17th over with Pollard hitting three consecutive sixes and Rohit Sharma 20 not out adding another one Pollard then added more misery on the Sunrisers smashing spinner Amit Mishra for another three sixes in the very next over With 12 needed off the last two overs Pollard finished the match with a maximum off the third last ball to give Mumbai their seventh consecutive win at home Pollard finished the game in style hitting two sixes off the final over Mumbai with 20 points from 14 games leapfrogged to the top of the points table with better net runrate 0636 while Sunrisers39 campaign suffered a major jolt with their sixth defeat in the tournament which left them placed at fifth position behind Royal Challengers Bangalore with 16 points Sunrisers39 runrate is 0117 at the moment and weakest among the top five teams Mumbai39s victory means defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders lived to survive another day as they still have an outside chance of making the playoffs But for that to happen they need to win their remaining tournament fixtures by a big marginu00a0 Sachin Tendulkar scoredu00a038 off 31 balls before retiring hurt Mumbai39s runchase commenced at a relatively slow pace and opener Dwayne Smith who looked aggressive by striking two consecutive fours against Dale Steyn in the previous over was castled by Ishant Sharma in the fourth over u00a0 Tendulkar and Dinesh Karthik then consolidated the innings and chipped in with occasional boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking Mumbai suffered a setback when Tendulkar retired hurt after hitting Karan Sharma for a huge six in the stand named after him The senior India batsman called for the physio and took the treatment for nearly five minutes on his left palm before leaving the field u00a0 The hosts were jolted again as they lost Karthik and Ambati Rayudu in quick succession Karthik had hit four fours in his 23ball 30 But Pollard and Sharma then steadied the innings and guided the team to safety as the 17th and 18th overs yielded 50 runs for the home side u00a0 With this win Mumbai maintained their clean slate at home winning all their seven games this edition u00a0 Earlieru00a0 Shikhar Dhawan led the way with a strokefilled halfcentury as Sunrisers Hyderabad posted a challenging 178 for threeu00a0 Electing to bat Dhawan made a fluent 41ball 59 laced with six fours and two sixes and later captain Cameron White played a breezy knock of 43 off 23 balls to enthrall a near sellout crowd Incidentally this was the highest team total posted by the Hyderabad franchise in this edition Shikhar Dhawan made a fluent 41ball 59 laced with six fours and two sixes Sunrisers started off well with wicketkeeper batsman Parthiv Patel scoring a 19ball 26 and sharing a 38run partnership with Dhawan for the opening wicket before being caught by Ambati Rayudu off Lasith Malinga at deep square leg Dhawan who had earlier smashed an unbeaten 55ball 73 against the same opposition on May 1 then found an ably ally in next manin Hanuma Vihari and both mixed caution with aggression to take the team39s total past 100run mark Dhawan in the process brought up his fifty with a drive through covers off Malinga Both added 73 runs for the secondwicket stand before Dhawan was caught by Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps off Mitchell Johnson White joined hands with Vihari in the middle and continued the onslaught White survived a chance on 27 when Rayudu spilled his catch off Johnson The duo put on a 55run stand off just 34 balls for the third wicket as Hydearabd looked set for an imposing total However Mumbai kept things tight in the final overs of the Hyderabad innings as Malinga came up with an economical spell conceding just 12 runs off his two overs and picking up the wicket of Vihari who scored a 37ball 41u00a0 The Sri Lankan pacer was the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai Indians with two for 26 while Johnson grabbed a wicket while giving away 43 runs