Pollard helps MINY live to fight another day as they condemn LAKR to their eighth defeat in nine games this season.
Pollard helps MI New York keep playoff hopes alive.
As MI New York upset the bottom-place Los Angeles Knight Riders by six runs, Kieron Pollard’s all-around performance of a 36-ball 50 and bowling stats of 1 for 12 in two overs kept them in the running for a postseason berth in MLC 2025.
With the exception of Nicholas Pooran’s 24-ball 30 from No. 3, Pollard got little help from the other batters when he entered the game at 63 for 4 in the tenth over of the first innings and hammered four sixes and one four to give MINY a respectable total of 142 for 9. Shadley van Schalkwyk, who took 3 for 24 with help from Jason Holder (2 for 28) and Corne Dry (2 for 25), destroyed MINY’s batting, leaving LAKR chasing 143.
Even so, LAKR found it challenging to reach that goal, finishing at 136, six runs short, despite only losing four wickets. Andre Fletcher was dismissed for a nine off ten balls, while opener Alex Hales scored a slow 21 in 26 balls. They needed 21 off the final two overs since they were unable to stay up with the game’s equation, despite Sherfane Rutherford scoring 29 off 28 balls and Unmukt Chand hitting 59 off 48 balls.
In the 19th over, Pollard got rid of Rutherford, and at the conclusion of the same over, LAKR retired Chand. However, with Ehsan Adil maintaining composure with the ball, new batsmen Andre Russell and Holder were unable to push them over the finish line with 16 needed off the last over.
The defeat was LAKR’s eighth in nine outings while it was MINY’s third win in nine games.