Pollard inspires as Mumbai wins again

MUMBAI, India, CMC- Lendl Simmons failed with the bat while Kieron Pollard scored an unbeaten knock that inspired as Mumbai Indians recovered to beat Delhi Daredevils by five wickets with three balls to spare in the Indian Premier League (IPL) yesterday.

Simmons was removed for a duck in the first legal delivery of the innings while his Trinidad and Tobago colleague Pollard smashed 26 from 14 balls, pushing Mumbai to 153 for five after Daredevils posted 152 for six at Wankhede Stadium.

Mumbai had lost four wickets for 40 runs on the chase including the Simmons who was beaten by a length ball swinging back into the right-handed batsman to pin him in front.

However Simmons made amends to some extent with a marvellous, diving catch at point in the penultimate over to dismiss Yuvraj Singh.

Singh was the man of the innings for Delhi Daredevils scoring 57 off 44 balls to help them recover from a poor start.

Pollard’s knock was punctuated with three sixes including one from the second ball he faced and the first ball from the penultimate over that set the tone from there.

Pollard’s hitting seemed to have inspired Ambati Rayudu who was also undefeated with a top score of 49.

Earlier Rayudu teamed up with Rohit Sharma, who scored 46, to stage a healthy recovery for Mumbai.