West Indies hard-hitting batter Nicholas Pooran produced one of the craziest knocks in the history of T20 cricket on Monday to help MI New York become the champions of the inaugural edition of Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA. In the grand finale of MLC, MI New York thrashed Seattle Orcas by seven wickets.
Chasing a tricky 184-run target, MI New York suffered an early blow as Imad Wasim struck on the third ball of the first over.
Then, New York captain Pooran arrived, and he sent Seattle Orcas' bowlers for a leather hunt from the word go. Despite wickets tumbling from the other end, Pooran continued to find boundaries throughout the match, dealing in sixes and boundaries. He had a few fifty-run stands during the chase, but the captain did most of the scoring.
WHO CAN STOP NICKY P⁉️
— Major League Cricket (@MLCricket) July 31, 2023
MASSIVE OVER FROM THE BAT OF THE CAPTAIN!
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3 SIXES TO END THE LAST OVER OF THE POWERPLAY!
— Major League Cricket (@MLCricket) July 31, 2023
THIS IS SOMETHING SPECIAL, NICKY P!
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In his unbeaten 137 runs knock, Pooran smashed ten boundaries and 13 sixes, scoring at a strike rate of 249.09. New York chased down the tricky 184-run target in just chasing 16 overs.
Earlier, Seattle Orcas put up a 183-run on the back of Quinton de Kock's 87 runs off 52 deliveries.
MI New York vs Seattle Orcas full scorecard
MI New York full scorecard
MI New York
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Batters
| Dimissals | Runs | Balls | Fours | Sixes | Strike Rate |
Steven Taylor | b Imad Wasim | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Shayan Jahangir | c Tye b Parnell | 10 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 90.9 |
Nicholas Pooran (c)† | not out | 137 | 55 | 10 | 13 | 249.09 |
Dewald Brevis | run out (Harmeet Singh) | 20 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 111.11 |
Tim David | not out | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 111.11 |
Extras | (lb 1, w 6) | 7 | ||||
TOTAL | 16 Ov (RR: 11.50) | 184/3 | ||||
Bowling (Seattle Orcas) | ||||||
Bowlers | Overs | Runs | Wickets | ECON | ||
Imad Wasim | 2 | 14 | 1 | 7 | ||
Cameron Gannon | 4 | 36 | 0 | 9 | ||
Dwaine Pretorius | 3 | 47 | 0 | 15.66 | ||
Wayne Parnell | 2 | 22 | 1 | 11 | ||
Andrew Tye | 2 | 27 | 0 | 13.5 | ||
Harmeet Singh | 3 | 37 | 0 | 12.33 |
Polly might've been in the dugout, but his words of wisdom held strong #MLCFinal | @MINYCricket | @KieronPollard55 pic.twitter.com/dyxlzL5GwN
— Major League Cricket (@MLCricket) July 31, 2023
Seattle Orcas' full scorecard
Seattle Orcas (Batting)
| ||||||
Batters
| Dimissals | Runs | Balls | Fours | Sixes | Strike Rate |
Quinton de Kock † | b Boult | 87 | 52 | 9 | 4 | 167.3 |
Nauman Anwar | st †Pooran b Rashid Khan | 9 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 69.23 |
Shehan Jayasuriya | c & b Taylor | 16 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 106.66 |
Heinrich Klaasen | c Boult b Rashid Khan | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 57.14 |
Shubham Ranjane | c Kenjige b Boult | 29 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 181.25 |
Imad Wasim | c Wiese b Rashid Khan | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 116.66 |
Dwaine Pretorius | c David b Wiese | 21 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 300 |
Andrew Tye | c Jasdeep Singh b Boult | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
Wayne Parnell (c) | run out (Brevis/Wiese/†Pooran) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 200 |
Harmeet Singh | not out | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 200 |
Extras | (lb 1, w 4) | 5 | ||||
TOTAL | 20 Ov (RR: 9.15) | 183/9 | ||||
MI New York (Bowling |
Major League Cricket key stats
Most runs
Nicholas Pooran (MI New York): 388
Most wickets
Trent Boult (MI New York): 22
Highest individual score
Nicholas Pooran (137*) vs Seattle Orcas (final)
Best spell of the season
Saurabh Netravalkar (6/9) vs San Francisco Unicorns