Islamabad United moved to second on the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine points table after beating Karachi Kings by five wickets in the 24th match at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.
United now have 9 points after nine games while Shan Masood-led Kings remained at fifth with six points after eight games.
United, Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi have the same number of points. Multan Sultans are the only team to qualify for the playoffs while defending champions Lahore Qalandars have been ruled out.
Pakistan Super League Season Nine Points Table
It must be noted United chased down the target in the 19th over after restricting Shan Masood-led Kings to 150/7.
The chase started with Colin Munro (9) and Alex Hales (18) providing a decent start but Mir Hamza had his tail up with channel bowling, removing both of them.
Skipper Shadab Khan and Salman Ali Agha formed a crucial third-wicket stand to give stability to the chase. Salman made 33 before falling to Blessing Muzarabani while Shadab (34) was undone by Hamza again.
Kings tried to push for a comeback with Zahid Mahmood dismissing Azam Khan but Faheem Ashraf (12*) and Haider Ali (26*) remained firm in finishing the chase and registering eighth consecutive win over the Karachi Kings.
For Kings, Hamza was the pick of the bowlers with 3/41.
Being put into bat first, Karachi Kings posted a total of 150/7 in the allocated 20 overs, propelled by a judicious innings from Pollard.
The visiting team encountered a shaky start to their innings when Faheem Ashraf dismissed their captain, Shan Masood, in the fifth over with 34 runs on the scoreboard. Masood could only manage 10 off 12 deliveries, striking one boundary.
Faheem struck again in the subsequent over, compounding Karachi Kings' challenges as they stumbled to 43/2 in 6.4 overs.
Subsequently, Karachi Kings suffered two more setbacks as they lost the experienced Shoaib Malik (1) and Mohammad Nawaz (5) within nine overs, leaving them with just 49 runs on the board.
After the setback, Pollard partnered with James Vince, orchestrating an impressive recovery.
The pair batted astutely, contributing 58 runs at a brisk pace during their fifth-wicket partnership, which concluded with Vince's dismissal in the 14th over.
Vince played a stabilising innings, scoring 29 off 27 deliveries with the aid of five boundaries.
Pollard (39) then briefly collaborated with Muhammad Irfan Khan (16) before succumbing in the 18th over.
Left-arm pacer Tymal Mills spearheaded the bowling attack for Islamabad United, claiming 3/34, with Faheem Ashraf notching up two wickets for 16 in his four overs.
Imad Wasim and Hunain Shah collectively secured two wickets for the team.