The IPL 2020 clash between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab at the Dubai International Stadium witnessed an absolute epic. The match saw two Super Overs being bowled in order to determine the result and in the end, Chris Gayle and Mayank Agarwal took Kings XI Punjab over the line in what was a dramatic Sunday in the Indian Premier League. Super Sunday saw three Super Overs, with the game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad also ending in a Super Over while the first Super Over between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab was also tied. However, following the end of the match, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma was not present and Kieron Pollard was made the stand-in captain.
Speaking in the post-match presentation, Pollard said, "I was told that he's (Rohit) not feeling well. We'll see what happens. He's a fighter. With the dimensions, we thought we can defend that. KL again batted beautifully, going down to a Super Over, congratulations to them."
The match was tied thanks to a brilliant 77 from KL Rahul. In the first super over, Jasprit Bumrah managed to restrict them to five runs and he took two wickets as well. However, Mohammed Shami bowled a brilliant over and also restricted Mumbai Indians to five runs. In the second super over, Chris Jordan was tasked of bowling it and Mumbai Indians managed 11 runs, although it would have been a lot more had Mayank Agarwal not saved a six at long on off Pollard. Trent Boult bowled the second over and Chris Gayle smashed a six with Agarwal sealing the deal with a boundary.
Road ahead for Mumbai Indians
The four-time champions now have a four-day break before they take on MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on October 23. A win for Mumbai Indians will take them one step closer to qualifying. If they beat Chennai Super Kings, then MS Dhoni's team are mathematically out of the equation in the race for the play-offs. However, a loss for Rohit Sharma's team could make their path to the play-offs a bit tricky.
When asked about how Mumbai Indians felt after suffering such an epic loss, Pollard replied optimistically. "'What's the worse that can happen?' That's how I look at life and that's how I look at things. It's a game of cricket, you go out there to do your best, you prepare, there's a process and the situation dictates what happens. We were on the losing side tonight. We should have won this I believe deep down but these things happen. We have been playing good cricket, even today we played a very good cricket game. It's a matter of trying to improve each and every time. There are a couple of areas we need to improve on. We have a four-day break, enough time to reflect. The guys are confident in the dressing room," Pollard said.
