Nicholas Pooran saved his power-hitting masterclass for the ultimate fixture as his pulsating 137* off 55 balls gave MI New York the maiden Major League Cricket title. Quinton de Kock’s 87 powered Seattle Orcas and gave them the upper hand at the halfway stage but the MI New York captain blew them out of the water with one of the finest T20 innings ever.
That MI New York made mincemeat of a big chase and completed it with 24 balls to spare was down to Pooran’s incredible knock, that included as many as 10 fours and 13 sixes. The MI franchise once again showed their penchant to be T20 league royalty as they added the MLC league title to their overflowing trophy cabinet that also has five IPL and one WPL trophy.
Asked to bat, Seattle Orcas limped to their lowest PowerPlay total of the season – 31/1 – but Quinton de Kock and Shehan Jayasuriya found the next gear in the following overs. Jayasuriya went after David Wiese in the 16-run seventh over while de Kock dispatched Steven Taylor for two successive fours in the 11-run eighth over. Jayasuriya fell to Taylor in the next over but the stage was set for Orcas’ leading run-getter Heinrich Klaasen to drag his team ahead in the company of de Kock.
Pooran brought back Trent Boult to put the brakes on the pair and nearly succeeded as de Kock appeared to hole out at deep backward square leg, only for the fielder to take a few steps back and step on the ropes with the ball still in his hands. The South African made the most of this reprieve to smash 87 off 52 balls – an innings laced with nine fours and four sixes. Orcas’ hopes of getting Klaasen going, however, was cut short by Rashid Khan who had him caught at deep midwicket. Even as de Kock and Shubham Ranjane did well to give Orcas an aggressive push at the death, Rashid bowled an exceptional spell to finish with 3 for 9 and 19 dot balls in his four overs. Boult, the best bowler of the season by a big distance, picked three wickets too but 18 runs in the final over from Wiese took Orcas to a daunting total.
Pooran masterfully picked that apart inside the PowerPlay itself as he swung for the fences on his way to the fastest half-century of the season, off 16 balls. The West Indian walked out in the very first over when Imad Wasim cleaned up opener Steven Taylor and put his counter attacking instincts on display right away. The first over of the chase that began well for Orcas ended with Pooran carting two big sixes – over deep midwicket and long off.
He then saw through Dwaine Pretorius’s change of pace and also disdainfully smashed length balls that the South African repeatedly offered in a 28-run over. With a six off Cameron Gannon in the fourth, Pooran reached his fifty while MI NY went to 56/1 in just four overs. Wayne Parnell dragged his team back by dismissing Pooran’s passive batting partner – Shayan Jahangir – but Pooran responded to that set back by smashing three sixes off Andrew Tye. With that, MI New York reached 80/2 in 6 overs – their best PowerPlay returns of the season.
Pooran continued to move up a gear even after the field restrictions were relaxed as he punished Wayne Parnell for offering him width and smashed Gannon’s short-pitched bowling. By the end of the eighth over, MI NY’s asking rate was down to under 7 as Parnell failed to find a way to arrest his team’s rapid slide. In the 12th over, Pooran brought up a 40-ball 100 and was still not done.
A bit of a lucky break for Orcas saw Dewald Brevis get run out at the non-striker’s end when a drive from Pooran struck the bowler Harmeet Singh’s hand and ricocheted onto the stumps, catching the South African outside his crease. But that made no difference to the direction this final had swiftly taken as Tim David walked out and pulled Andrew Tye for a four in the following over.
MI New York were utterly relentless throughout and Orcas just couldn’t keep up as Pooran next targetted Harmeet, casually carting a hat-trick of sixes in a 24-run over. It was the sort of evening in Dallas where Pooran could do no wrong, even when Gannon bowled a pinpoint yorker angled into the left-hander. Pooran lost his footing and yet managed to get his bat down on time for it to send the ball hurtling down to the fine leg fence and complete the run-chase in just 16 overs.
Brief Scores:Seattle Orcas 183/9 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 87, Shubham Ranjane 29; Rashid Khan 3-9, Trent Boult 3-34) lost to MI New York 184/3 in 16 overs (Nicholas Pooran 137*; Wayne Parnell 1-14) by 7 wickets
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