Captain Faf du Plessis once again led from the front as the Texas Super Kings secured a nine-wicket win over defending champions MI New York in the eliminator of Major League Cricket 2024 at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Wednesday.
The Super Kings, after winning the toss and electing to field first, restricted New York to 163-8 from their 20 overs.
Rashid Khan (55) and Monank Patel (48) were the top run scorers for MI against an important 2-18 off four overs from Marcus Stoinis. Aaron Hardie also took two wickets while Dwayne Bravo finished with 1-21 from 1.3 overs.
Texas then needed only 18.3 overs to reach 167-1 thanks to a 47-ball 72 from du Plessis, his third fifty of the season, including six fours and three sixes.
That knock now brings du Plessis’s run total to 375 from seven games, form that he will hope translates to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) where he will captain the St. Lucia Kings beginning August 29.
Devon Conway capitalized on some missed chances from the MI New York fielders to finish 51* while Hardie followed up his two wickets with 40* off 22 balls.
The Super Kings will now face the loser of the Qualifier between the Washington Freedom and San Francisco Unicorns in the Challenger on Friday for a place in Sunday’s final.
Full Scores:
MI New York 163-8 off 20 overs (Rashid Khan 55, Monank Patel 48, Marcus Stoinis 2-18, Aaron Hardie 2-22)
Texas Super Kings 167-1 off 18.3 overs (Faf du Plessis 72, Devon Conway 51*, Aaron Hardie 40*)
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)
Nicholas Pooran hit 62* to lead defending champions MI New York to a six-wicket win over the Seattle Orcas to kick off the second edition of Major League Cricket at Church Street Park in Morrisville on Friday.
After winning the toss and electing to field first, the MI New York bowlers dominated the Orcas batting, restricting them to 108 all out off 19.1 overs.
Shubham Ranjane (35), Harmeet Singh (20) and Aaron Jones (12) were the only batsmen to reach double figures for the Orcas against 3-22 and 3-25 from eight overs combined from superstars Rashid Khan and Trent Boult, respectively.
Captain Kieron Pollard also chipped in with 2-11 from his 2.1 overs.
It then took MI New York only 14.2 overs to reach 111-4 with Pooran finishing 62* off 37 balls, his 41st T20 half-century.
His knock included seven fours and two sixes.
Full Scores:
Seattle Orcas 108 all out off 19.1 overs (Shubham Ranjane 35, Rashid Khan 3-22, Trent Boult 3-25)
MI New York 111-4 off 14.2 overs (Nicholas Pooran 62*, Cameron Gannon 2-40)
MI New York Captain, Nicholas Pooran, played one of the greatest T20 innings you will ever see to lift his side to a dominant seven-wicket victory over the Seattle Orcas to claim the first ever Major League Cricket title at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Sunday.
The day started with the Orcas making a respectable 183-9 off their 20 overs after being put in to bat by Pooran.
The bulk of their scoring was done by South African superstar, Quinton De Kock.
The opener, fresh off 88* in Qualifier 1 against the Texas Super Kings on Thursday to help the Orcas advance to the final, made a 52-ball 87 including nine fours and four sixes on Sunday.
He was supported well by Shubham Ranjane and Dwaine Pretorius who had scores of 29 and 21, respectively. Pretorius’ knock came off just seven balls and included three fours and a six.
Rashid Khan was, as usual, brilliant with the ball for MI New York with 3-9 from his four overs while Trent Boult took 3-34 from his four over spell.
MI New York’s chase got off to a rough start when Steven Taylor was bowled by Imad Wasim for a duck in the first over but then, the Pooran show started.
In what was a magnificent knock, the left-hander from Trinidad hit 10 fours and 13 sixes on his way to a 55-ball 137* to lead his team to victory. His fifty came up off just 16 balls while his century took 40 balls.
Dewald Brevis was the next highest scorer with 20 as MI New York needed just 16 overs to reach 184-3 and put themselves down in the history books as the first ever champions of Major League Cricket.
Pooran ended the tournament as the leading run scorer with 388 runs in eight matches at an average of 64.66. He was also named as the tournament MVP.
His MI New York teammate, Trent Boult, topped the leading wicket-taker list with 22, 11 more than anybody else.
MI New York will take on the Seattle Orcas in the first ever Major League Cricket final after securing a six wicket win over the Texas Super Kings in the Eliminator at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Friday.
The Super Kings, coming off a brutal loss to the Orcas in Qualifier 1, posted 158 all out in the r 20 overs after being put in to bat by MI New York.
Devon Conway hit 38 and Milind Kumar made 37 to lead the Super Kings. Trent Boult took his third consecutive four-wicket haul (4-24) to lead the MI New York bowling effort.
South African Dewald Brevis hit 41* while Shayan Jahangir hit 36 as MI New York reached 162-4 with six deliveries to spare. Tim David also played a big hand with a 20-ball 33.
The final between the Seattle Orcas and MI New York will take place on Sunday at the same venue.
The Seattle Orcas became the first finalists in Major League Cricket history after a dominant nine-wicket win over the Texas Super Kings in Qualifier 1 at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Thursday.
The Super Kings managed to post just 126-9 in their 20 overs after winning the toss and choosing to bat first.
Daniel Sams hit 26* while Devon Conway and Cody Chetty each hit 24. Those were the only Super Kings batsmen to reach double figures as Andrew Tye took 3-32 and Imad Wasim grabbed 2-23 for the Orcas.
Quinton De Kock then led the successful chase for the Orcas with an unbeaten 50-ball 88 including 10 fours and four sixes.
He was well supported by Shehan Jayasuriya who hit 31* as Seattle needed just 15 overs to reach 127-1 and secure a spot in the final.
Their opponents will be determined when the Super Kings face MI New York, who beat the Washington Freedom by 16 runs in the Eliminator on the same day, on Friday.
MI New York made 141-7 off their 20 overs after being put in to bat by the Freedom.
Dewald Brevis, who played because of an injury sustained by Captain, Kieron Pollard, in their last game, led the way with 57 off 41 balls including four fours and three sixes.
Saurabh Netravalkar took 2-25 for the Freedom.
Washington were then restricted to 125-9 from their 20 overs despite 28 from Marco Jansen and 24 from Andries Gous.
Trent Boult led the charge with 4-20 while Nosthush Kenjige took 2-19 for MI New York.
MI New York are one step closer to booking a spot in the inaugural Major League Cricket playoffs after an eight-wicket victory over the Washington Freedom at the Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina, on Sunday.
MI New York held the Freedom to a respectable 160-6 after winning the toss and electing to field first.
Glenn Phillips hit a 35-ball 47 while Captain, Moises Henriques, hit 32 off 30 balls for Washington.
New York skipper, Kieron Pollard, was amongst the wickets with 2-33 from his four overs.
Nicholas Pooran then starred with an unbeaten 62 as MI New York needed only 15.3 overs to reach 161-2.
The left-hander faced 33 balls and struck four fours and six sixes on his way to his first fifty of the competition.
Pooran was well supported by openers Monank Patel, who hit 44 off 29 balls, and Shayan Jahangir, who made 29. Pollard was at the crease alongside Pooran in the end, finishing 21* off just 10 balls.
The Seattle Orcas and Washington Freedom have each already secured spots in the playoffs with three teams battling for the remaining two spots.
MI New York, who play the Orcas in their last game, will be in with a win or if they avoid a heavy defeat.
The Texas Super Kings and San Francisco Unicorns are the other teams in contention for a spot and they will be facing each other in a winner-take-all clash on Monday.
New Zealander, Devon Conway, hit 74 to help the Texas Super Kings get their second win in three games in Major League Cricket with a 17-run win over MI New York at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Monday.
The Super Kings won the toss and posted 154-7 off their 20 overs.
Conway’s innings lasted 55 balls and included eight fours and a six. Conway’s countryman, Mitchell Santner, hit 27 in support. Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada each took a pair of wickets for MINY.
MI New York’s chase then failed to get going after a slow first powerplay where they only scored 32 in the first six overs.
The innings sauntered along before, eventually, they were restricted to 137-8 after 20 overs.
Shayan Jahangir top scored with 41 while Tim David hit 21 and Nicholas Pooran made 19.
Daniel Sams was excellent with the ball for Texas, picking up 2-15 in his four overs.
The Super Kings are now on top of the table with four points from three games.
Following what could only be described as an abject display of batting, Sunil Narine’s Los Angeles Knight Riders were skittled out for 50; that’s right, 50 runs to lose by 105 runs to Kieron Pollard’s MI New York in their Major League Cricket encounter in Dallas, Texas on Sunday night.
Neither side would have been proud of their efforts with the bat after Pollard won the toss and elected to bat. It was not long before they were in dire straits at 54-4 in the ninth over. Nicholas Pooran’s 38 and Tim David, the Player of the Match, who top scored with an unbeaten 48 got them past 100 and onto a final score of 155-8.
Corne Fry was the best of the Knight Riders’ bowlers with 2-10. Adam Zampa chipped in with 2-25 and Ali Khan 2-28.
With a relatively modest target of 156, Knight Riders would have been licking their chops in anticipation of an easy night. It was anything but as only Onmukt Chand was the only batter in double figures with his score of 26.
Andre Russell faced six balls for two runs and Narine faced four for his two as the Knight Riders collapsed to 50 all out in the 14th over.
Ehsan Adil and Nosthush Kenjige each took 2-7 while Pollard, who made only five when New York was at the crease, took 2-10. Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada also took two wickets each.
The win elevated New York up to second in the table with one win and a loss while Los Angeles sits at the foot of the six-team table after consecutive losses.
Needless to say neither captain was particularly happy, Pollard only more slightly so.
“Happy with that (the end result). Not happy with the performance, though. Losing five wickets in the 10-11 overs is unacceptable from our team. We lost a lot of wickets in the first game as well and that can cost us,” said Pollard.
Responding to whether his openers were going too hard at the start, the former West Indies white-ball captain replied, “I do not think so. Some of the guys playing this level of cricket for the first time in franchise cricket. We need to give them time but it is about understanding what needs to be done. You cannot win the game in the first six overs
New Zealander, Corey Anderson, hit an unbeaten 91 to help the San Francisco Unicorns open their 2023 Major League Cricket campaign with a 22-run victory over MI New York at Grand Prairie Stadium on Friday.
Anderson’s knock came off 52 balls and included four fours and seven sixes to help the Unicorns post a formidable 215-5 from their 20 overs after winning the toss.
It was an excellent recovery for the Unicorns who were reeling at 50-4 after seven overs before a crucial 129-run fifth wicket partnership between Anderson and Pakistani all rounder Shadab Khan. Khan made a rapid 30-ball 61 including four fours and five sixes.
Pacers Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada took 2-38 and 2-32, respectively.
MI New York then made a solid effort to chase down their target, eventually finishing 193-5 from their 20 overs.
Tim David led the way with an unbeaten 53 off 28 balls while Captain Pollard contributed 48 and Pooran hit 40.
Former England pacer, Liam Plunkett, took 2-30 for the Unicorns.
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