Mumbai Indians batting coach Kieron Pollard has been fined 15 per cent of his applicable match fee for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct by using abusive language for the fourth umpire. The legendary former West Indies all-rounder also accumulated one demerit point for the Level 1 offence.
According to an IPL press release issued on Friday morning, Pollard was found to have breached article 2.3 of the Code of Conduct, which relates to the use of an audible obscenity during a match.
The flashpoint occurred in the 19th over of the second innings during Mumbai Indians’ match against Punjab Kings on Thursday night. Pollard admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction imposed by match referee Pankaj Dharmani.
PBKS vs MI: HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD
This is not the first time the long-time associate of Mumbai Indians has been penalised for breaching the code of conduct in the past.
Tilak Varma Stars in Last-Ball Thriller
The disciplinary incident took place during a dramatic last-ball thriller in the hill town of Dharamsala, where Mumbai Indians emerged winners by six wickets. The defeat severely dented the playoff hopes of Punjab Kings, who have now slumped to their fifth straight defeat and must win both of their remaining matches to stay in contention for a top-four finish.
Chasing a competitive target of 201, Ryan Rickelton came out blazing for Mumbai Indians. He single-handedly propelled his side to 59 for no loss during an explosive 23-ball 48, tearing into the attack despite Rohit Sharma’s scratchy 25 at the other end. Arshdeep Singh delivered two outstanding overs with the new ball for Punjab, conceding just eight runs, but lacked support as Rickelton took toll of Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, and Xavier Bartlett.
Punjab Kings fought back with three wickets for 57 runs between the seventh and 13th overs, with Yuzvendra Chahal bowling a superb spell to pull things back and castle Rohit. However, Tilak Varma anchored the chase superbly with an unbeaten 33-ball 75. Varma first stitched a 61-run stand off 42 balls with Sherfane Rutherford and later combined with Will Jacks to steer Mumbai home in 19.5 overs, hitting two sixes in the final over to knock off the winning runs.
Shardul’s Four-Wicket Haul Limits PBKS
Earlier in the evening, Punjab Kings were asked to bat first and crossed the 200-run mark for the eighth time this season. Prabhsimran Singh smashed 57, adding a 33-ball 50-run opening stand with Priyansh Arya and a further 57 runs with Cooper Connolly to take Punjab past the 100-run mark in the 12th over.
Shardul Thakur brought Mumbai Indians back into the game with a four-wicket burst, finishing with figures of 4 for 39. Shardul struck twice in three balls to remove the well-set Prabhsimran and stand-in skipper Shreyas Iyer. Raj Bawa then castled Connolly and took a sharp catch to dismiss Suryansh Shedge off Shardul as Punjab slipped badly.
However, Azmatullah Omarzai led a late counterattack in the death overs, smashing a 17-ball 38 studded with two sixes and a four. Supported by late runs from Vishnu Vinod and Xavier Bartlett, Punjab managed to pile up 53 runs in the final three overs to post 200 for 8, a total that was eventually overshadowed by Tilak Varma’s brilliance.
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