Trinidad and Tobago’s hard-hitting batsman Kieron Pollard who represents the Mumbai Indians in the Airtel Champions League down in South Africa slammed a superb 72 not out from 30 balls with nine powerful sixes.
Pollard is one of the highest paid cricketers in the world. Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Jendular and Mahengdra Singh Dhoni are said to be in that rating as well.
Solid Start
Captain Jendularkar scored 48 from 39 balls before he fell to right arm spinner Davendra Bishoo. Shikhar Dhawan who scored 39 from 37 balls put on a partnership of 82 runs with Jendular.
Jendulkar was dropped on 31 off the bowling of Christopher Barnwell.Bishoo and Royston Crandon kept things tight for Guyana, restricting any heavy scoring by the Mumbai Indians and after 14 overs Mumbai was 97 for 1.
Drastic Change
After the Mumbai Indians struggled at 98 for 2 and then 99 for 3 with Bishoo seem to have found a tight length things changed quickly. Kieron Pollard exploded with some well-timed sixes that checked Guyana’s early inroads. Mumbai Indians last six overs yielded 87 runs in fine style. The team ended their innings at 184 for 4 after 20 overs. Kieron Pollard scored 72 not out from 30 balls and hit nine sixes.
Guyana Slumps
Guyana lost two early wickets but Captain Ramneresh Sarwan and Narsingh Deonarine kept Guyana moving nicely with Sarwan looking well set. Deonarine fell to poor stroke playing and it seems as if he has a problem in enduring the toughness and physical attributes that goes with these types of games.
Deonarine does not look physically fit and the management of the Guyana Cricket Board must address this problem. In such a crucial game and so much depended on a senior player like him and he fell in such a manner he scored 27 runs from 23 balls. Sarwan went for 46 from 38 balls. Christopher Barnwell tried to push the score but his partner Royston Crandon found it difficult to get the ball away.
Faster Scorer
In these Twenty20 games the better batsman theory should not always apply as to batting order. Jonathan Foo seems to be a faster scorer than Royston Crandon and this was proven in the game against Barbados when Guyana won the regional Twenty20 [2010] title Foo took control from the first ball he received and kept up with the tempo until Guyana won.
Jonathan Foo is an energetic cricketer, very quick thinking and he has the ability to change the levels of a game within two or three overs at the wicket. Some Twenty20 batsmen do not have that skill. Foo should have been the batsman in after Sarwan’s wicket fell and maybe that would have carried a huge challenge to the Mumbai Indians team.
Guyana Needs 41
Runs From 12 Balls
Royston Crandon fell for 16 runs from 14 balls as Guyana ended at 153 for 6 after 20 overs. The Mumbai bowlers Lasith Malinga 1 for 28 from 4 overs, Zaheer Khan 1 for 18 from 4 overs, Harbhajan Singh and Dwayne Bravo taking two wickets each.
Note: Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga are two experienced bowlers in any type of cricket and they kept things tight for the remaining overs as the Mumbai Indians won by 31 runs.
