Pollard destroys Guyana bowling

DURBAN, South Africa (AP):

Inspired by the power hitting of Kieron Pollard, Mumbai Indians claimed their first victory of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament yesterday with a 31-run win over Guyana.

Pollard smashed 72 from 30 balls, with nine sixes and a four, to lead Mumbai to 184-4 in the Group B match at Kingsmead. The total was too much for Guyana, which finished on 153-6. Captain Ramnaresh Sarwan top-scored with 46.

Dwayne Bravo and Harbhajan Singh took two wickets each for Mumbai, but Man of the Match Pollard was the decisive factor as the IPL team kept alive its slim hopes of a semi-final appearance.

Mumbai can sneak into the last four if they beat Indian rivals Bangalore and other results go their way in the group.

Pollard has now hit a tournament-high 14 sixes in three innings as he destroyed Guyana's bowling attack, sending ball after ball high over the boundary.

"I thought the batting was tremendous and Pollard was special," Mumbai skipper Sachin Tendulkar said. "To get to this total was an incredible effort by him. Terrific bat swing and tremendous power. He can clear any ground in the world."

Pushed up the order to No. 3, the West Indies all-rounder was largely responsible for Mumbai plundering an incredible 85 runs from the last five overs, which turned the match.

"I thought he played brilliantly," Sarwan said. "He took the game away from us and we didn't really help ourselves with the fielding. I thought we pulled it back pretty well in the middle, but then came Kieron Pollard."

Must-win match

It was a must-win match for Mumbai, which lost their first two games to be on the brink of elimination.

"The pitch was very nice," Pollard said. "When the bowlers were trying to bang it in, it was standing up for me to play through the line of the ball and connect properly, and I did."

Devindra Bishoo was Guyana's best bowler with 3-34.

Opting to bat first against an inexperienced attack in overcast and at times drizzly conditions, Tendulkar hit 48 off 39 balls for his highest score of the tournament - but only after being dropped off consecutive balls in the outfield off Christopher Barnwell.

Having ridden his luck and stroked six fours, Tendulkar departed when he charged down the pitch to legspinner Bishoo and was stumped by Derwin Christian.