HIGHLIGHTS

• CSK went from being 24/4 to finishing their innings on 156/6
• MI eventually lost the match by 20 runs, finishing their innings on 136/8
• Lara felt that Pollard could have bowled Bumrah while CSK were losing wickets

Stand-in skipper Kieron Pollard may have erred in his tactics which led to Mumbai Indians (MI) losing to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 20 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday, former West Indies captain Brian Lara has said. Lara said that Pollard could have given Bumrah the ball in the middle overs a bit more in place of one of the two spinners to keep the pressure on CSK while they were losing wickets.

“They (CSK) should have been done and dusted by the Mumbai Indians. There are a few things that Kieron Pollard did out there that I felt he didn’t really press gas at the right time and sort of just came off the pedal and allowed the Chennai Super Kings to get back into the match. But I felt that you make it easy, you can’t have Bumrah just bowling one over at that stage,” Brian Lara said while speaking to cricket.com.

CSK went from being 24/4 to finishing the innings on 156/6 with opener Ruturaj Gaikwad finishing then innings unbeaten on 88 off 58 balls. The win helped them jump to the top of the table.

“I can’t blame the Mumbai bowlers, but I just felt that they could have done a little bit better tactically. I think it’s more tactical. You’ve got two spinners that you most likely will have to use at some point in time. I wouldn’t necessarily say the bowlers were bad. I felt if they had used them properly, no way 156 was on the card for Chennai Super Kings,” he added.