On the back of a vintage display of power hitting from Captain Kieron Pollard and some responsible batting from Nicholas Pooran, defending champions MI New York booked a spot in the 2024 Major League Cricket Playoffs with a four-wicket win over the Los Angeles Knight Riders at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas on Sunday.
Both teams entered Sunday’s clash knowing a win would be good enough for them to join the San Francisco Unicorns, Washington Freedom and Texas Super Kings in the playoffs.
After winning the toss and electing to field first, MI New York restricted the LA Knight Riders to 130 all out off 19.1 overs.
The hard-hitting Andre Russell did the bulk of the scoring for the Sunil Narine-led knight Riders with 35 while Jason Roy hit 27 at the top of the innings.
Leg-spinner Rashid Khan was the pick of the New York bowlers with 3-22 from his four overs while Nosthush Kenjige and Trent Boult supported well with two wickets, each.
MI New York then needed only 17 overs to reach 134-6 and book their spot in the playoffs after winning just one of their first six games of the season.
Nicholas Pooran led the way with 35 off 28 balls but it was Pollard’s blistering 33* off just 12 balls that sealed victory.
Pooran’s knock included two fours and as many sixes while Pollard hit two fours and three sixes.
Dewald Brevis also chipped in with a 19-ball 27.
Narine took 2-24 from his four overs for the Knight Riders.
Full Scores:
LA Knight Riders 130 all out off 19.1 overs (Andre Russell 35, Jason Roy 27, Rashid Khan 3-22, Nosthush Kenjige 2-22, Trent Boult 2-38)
MI New York 134-6 off 17 overs (Nicholas Pooran 35, Kieron Pollard 33*, Dewald Brevis 27, Sunil Narine 2-24)
The San Francisco Unicorns opened up their 2024 Major League Cricket season with a dominant six-wicket win over the Los Angeles Knight Riders at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Sunday.
West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell hit a whirlwind 25-ball 40* to lead the Knight Riders to 165-6 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat by the Unicorns.
Russell’s innings included two fours and three sixes.
Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan chipped in with 35 off 26 balls including six fours.
Pacers Brody Couch and Haris Rauf took 2-24 and 2-38 from four overs, respectively.
The Unicorns then needed just 15.2 overs to reach 166-4 thanks to 63 from man of the match, Finn Allen and 58 from Matthew Short.
New Zealand’s Allen faced 37 balls and hit five fours to go along with five sixes while Australia’s Short hit five sixes and three fours in his 26-ball knock.
Spencer Johnson took 3-36 from his four overs for the Knight Riders.
Full Scores:
LA Knight Riders 165-6 off 20 overs (Andre Russell 40*, Shakib Al Hasan 35, Jason Roy 26, Brody Couch 2-24, Haris Rauf 2-38)
San Francisco Unicorns 166-4 off 15.2 overs (Finn Allen 63, Matthew Short 58, Spencer Johnson 3-36)
Batsman Unmukt Chand and bowler Ali Khan both played starring roles to help the Sunil Narine-led Los Angeles Knight Riders open their 2024 Major League Cricket season with a 12-run win over the Texas Super Kings at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Friday.
Chand, a former India Under-19 Captain, starred with a 45-ball 68 to help lead the Knight Riders to 162-7 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat by the Super Kings.
The 31-year-old hit six fours and three sixes and was well supported by Nitish Kumar who hit 26 off 17 balls including a four and two sixes.
Left-arm pacer Zia-ul-Haq took 2-16 from three overs for the Super Kings while Aaron Hardie and Marcus Stoinis took two wickets, each.
The Knight Riders were then able to restrict the Super Kings to 150-8 from their 20 overs thanks to some tight bowling throughout the innings.
Devon Conway led the Texas batting charge with 53 off 39 balls including four fours and two sixes while Calvin Savage made 29* off 18 balls.
Pacer Ali Khan took 4-33 from his four overs while Spencer Johnson bowled brilliantly up front on his way to figures of 2-18 from his four overs.
Sunil Narine was economic as usual with 1-23 from his four overs while Andre Russell went wicketless, conceding 25 in three overs.
Full Scores:
Los Angeles Knight Riders 162-7 off 20 overs (Unmukt Chand 68, Nitish Kumar 26, Zia-ul-Haq 2-16, Aaron Hardie 2-26, Marcus Stoinis 2-37)
Texas Super Kings 150-8 off 20 overs (Devon Conway 53, Calvin Savage 29*, Ali Khan 4-33, Spencer Johnson 2-18)
Andre Russell put on a show with the bat but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Los Angeles Knight Riders from going down by six wickets to the Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket at the Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina on Thursday.
The Freedom won the toss and put the Knight Riders in to bat. The decision looked like the right one, early, when Washington had the Knight Riders reeling at 68-4 in the 11th over before Russell came to the wicket.
The all-rounder needed just 37 balls to hit 70*, his second fifty in the tournament. The Jamaican hit six fours and as many sixes. He was supported well by Rilee Rossouw who hit 41 off 30 balls including four sixes.
In the end, LA amassed a respectable 175-7 from their 20 overs. Freedom Captain, Moises Henriques, took 3-26 off three overs while Marco Jansen took 2-29 off four.
The ensuing chase was an all-round batting effort from the Freedom. They needed only 18.1 overs to overhaul LA’s total, eventually finishing on 177-4.
Openers Matthew Short and Andries Gous led the way with scores of 43 and 40, respectively. Short’s innings lasted 35 balls and included three fours and a six while Gous needed just 15 balls and hit five fours and two sixes.
Glenn Phillips also made a good contribution with 29 while Obus Pienaar hit 26. Knight Riders skipper, Sunil Narine, was their most economical bowler with 1-20 from his four overs.
The Knight Riders are still winless in the competition with only one match left to play.
The Texas Super Kings secured a resounding 69-run win over the Los Angeles Knight Riders to kick off the inaugural season of Major League Cricket in the United States.
The Knight Riders, led by Captain, Sunil Narine and including the likes of Andre Russell and Rilee Rossouw, won the toss and elected to field first at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Thursday.
The Super Kings, including Dwayne Bravo, posted 181-6 from their 20 overs thanks to half-centuries from David Miller and Devon Conway.
Miller blasted a 42-ball 61 including two fours and four sixes while, earlier, Conway hit 55 off 37 balls including seven fours and a six at the top of the order.
Pacers Lockie Ferguson and Ali Khan each took a pair of wickets for the Knight Riders.
The Super Kings then used early wickets and disciplined bowling to restrict the Knight Riders to 112 all out in just 14 overs in their reply.
The Knight Riders lost five wickets within the first six overs and were never able to recover to make the game competitive.
Only Andre Russell offered some resistance for the Knight Riders with an aggressive 55 off 34 balls including seven fours and three big sixes.
Jaskaran Malhotra (22) and Narine (15) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures as leg-spinner Mohammad Mohsin backed up some good bowling at the top from the pacers with 4-8 from three overs.
Earlier, Rusty Theron took 2-16 and Gerald Coetzee took 2-22 in four overs between them. Dwayne Bravo also chipped in with 1-10 from his two overs.
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