The second day of the all-important, business end week of the tournament saw yet another must-win clash for both Kings XI Punjab and host Mumbai Indians.
One of the top-scorers in the tournament, Suryakumar Yadav provided the early fireworks before Ishan Kishan carried on his form in the tournament to support the opener.
It all changed when Andrew Tye was brought into the attack where he scalped three wickets in no time to put the hosts into the backfoot by the end of the powerplay.
Kieron Pollard of the Mumbai Indians plays a shot during match fifty of the Vivo Indian Premier League 2018 (IPL 2018) between the Mumbai Indians and the Kings XI Punjab held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on the 16th May 2018. Photo by: Faheem Hussain /SPORTZPICS for BCCI
The game was interrupted briefly due to the malfunctioning of light towers at Wankhede. After the halt in play, Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard changed the game around its head with their firepower.
The two added as many as 72 runs in five overs to cause havoc into the Kings XI Punjab camp. Kieron Pollard who had a dismal season in the IPL, answered his critics in style just when the team needed him the most.
Andrew Tye of the Kings XI Punjab celebrates the wicket of Hardik Pandya of the Mumbai Indians during match fifty of the Vivo Indian Premier League 2018 (IPL 2018) between the Mumbai Indians and the Kings XI Punjab held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on the 16th May 2018. Photo by: Vipin Pawar /SPORTZPICS for BCCI
Pollard brought up his half-century in just 22-balls before falling victim to Ashwin who underused himself looking at the wet pitch.
Purple cap holder Andrew Tye, yet again, showed his class with his 4-wicket haul. In the end, Mumbai Indians huffed and puffed to reach a total of 186 for the loss of 8 wickets,
Here’s how Twitter Reacted
#MIvKXIP ashwin pagla gaya hai, if he have spares overs himself then why he kept on bowling stoinis and ankit ? crazy guy
— gopal parekh (@gopalparekh) May 16, 2018
Ashwin one up on Maxwell. A little late though – lost another match with lack of leadership, belief.#MIvKXIP
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) May 16, 2018
#MIvKXIP Great innings from Polly. Could be our season defining innings. Wish Polly was there at the crease for another 3 overs or so.
— roshimon (@roshimon1) May 16, 2018
72 runs in 5 overs between 11-15 after being 4 down… 😵
II KPs seized the upper hand in no time from XI KPs #MIvKXIP #IPL2018
— ಕೃಷ್ಣಕತೆ (@KrishnaKathe) May 16, 2018
Pollard is peaking at the right moment else Nita ji might fail to notice him in the next auction.#MIvKXIP
— Simplicity. (@SimplySimple_me) May 16, 2018
Sanjay Manjrekar just said 'Toy' instead of 'Tye' on commentary #MIvKXIP
— Narbavi (@Narbavi) May 16, 2018
Mumbai Indians used RTM card to get back Kieron Pollard in the Auctions and the Big Man delivered when his team needed him the most.
Well played #KieronPollard 🙌👏#MIvKXIP— IPL CricfreakZ (@cricfreakz) May 16, 2018
Kieron Pollard
First 15 balls scored 21 runs
Last 7 balls scored 29 runs #MIvKXIP— aNUP mAHAPAtRA (@am_i_anup) May 16, 2018
Another scripted match… Someone plz ban this Ambani team from ipl #MIvKXIP
— RomanReigns (@Vip121822) May 16, 2018
Ambani's money worked with ground technicians…helped players for momentum swing #MIvKXIP
— Remo (@tweet2remo) May 16, 2018
When you don't know who to support
Cskforever #CSK #MIvKXIP— Diyasha Agarwal (@leomessi0712) May 16, 2018
Finally the beast has woken up #MIvKXIP #MIpaltan pic.twitter.com/FYdApBtG5r
— Ayra (@ayrarodrigues30) May 16, 2018
" Rohit Sharma in IPL"
◼ 3 IPL cups as captn
◼ 3rd leading run scorer in IPL
◼ Highst sixes by Indian in IPL
◼ Highst win percentage as captn
◼Highst M.O.M awards by Indian in IPLOne bad season can't take away from him what he has done across the past 10 seasons. #MIvKXIP
— . (@mipaItan) May 16, 2018
Chutya Ashwin .. Coming now to ball.. 😂😕🙄 its already 150+ on board 👎🏻 poor captaincy @lionsdenkxip #MIvKXIP
— VDJ ISHQ (A.K) (@DjishqOfficial) May 16, 2018
Playing Pollard over JP turning out to be a master stroke. Having the same impact as the decision to send Kishan ahead of Hardik vs #KKR. Decisions that might define #MI’s season in the end. #MIvKXIP #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 16, 2018
#MIvKXIP
Mumbai reach 116. Karnataka governor invites them to form the next government.— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) May 16, 2018
Rohit Sharma might have failed in this season but his sacrifice as opener gave them a successful opener Suryakumar Yadav which people might not see…#MIvKXIP
— Broken Pundit (@Brokenpundit) May 16, 2018
