The 56th match of the IPL 2022 season is underway right now in Navi Mumbai, where the five-time champions Mumbai Indians are playing against two-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders. Both franchises are in the lower half of the points table. While MI have already been eliminated from the race to the playoffs, KKR still have an outside chance. Kieron Pollard earned everyone’s attention on social media with a hilarious error.
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first. The Kolkata Knight Riders got off to a great start courtesy of a 60-run first-wicket partnership between Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer. The returning Iyer scored a quickfire 43. However, after his departure, the innings slowed down a bit.
Nitish Rana and Ajinkya Rahane had a slow partnership of 27 runs. During their partnership, Kieron Pollard came in to bowl an over, and the ball accidentally slipped out of his hands, going towards the on-field umpire Chris Gaffaney. The match official was caught off guard by the ball coming towards him.
When the incident happened, Brendon McCullum, the coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, had a brief interview with the commentators. Here’s what he said in that chat:
“It’s been a great start. Venkatesh Iyer came back in and showed what we were missing. Lovely to see him back. Looks like a pretty good wicket. Both are very experienced players and know their game very well. They are going to play different roles against spin and pace and you will them play aggressive cricket when the match-up comes.”
Twitterati in splits as Kieron Pollard hits umpire with the ball
Here is the video of the moment when Pollard lost control of the ball and hit the umpire. Here are some of the top Twitter reactions:
Umpire in danger these days#ChrisGaffaney pic.twitter.com/x4oXOnQYec
— Vaishnavi Sawant (@VaishnaviS45) May 9, 2022
Pov : umpire when pollard bowling
— J (@jaynildave) May 9, 2022
#KKRvsMI pic.twitter.com/r5Pi1goat0
The ball accidentally hits the umpire while Pollard was bowling to Nitish Rana.
— Varun G (@Varun_G_5) May 9, 2022
That ball slips out of Pollard's hand and hits the umpire😂😭
— Vijay (@Vijay62602520) May 9, 2022
Pollard bowling at umpire while running towards strike batsman.😭😹#KKRvsMI
— Rohit.Bishnoi (@The_kafir_boy_2) May 9, 2022
If it was a soccer game #Pollard would be back in the dressing room as a RED CARD would have been served for hitting the refree 😂 #KKRvsMI
— Howdy_Tweeps (@Howdy_Tweeps) May 9, 2022
When you’re throwing chalk at your friend but it hits the teacher pic.twitter.com/PgA9puwzCV
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) May 9, 2022