The moment that we were all waiting for has come finally to light. The inaugural version of the much-anticipated Major League Cricket finally got under on July 13 at Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Texas. The star-studded action-packed MLC tournament finally got rolling as Texas Super Kings and Los Angeles Knight Riders were embroiled in an intense rivalry that kept the fans captivated and almost on the edge of their seats.
Texas Super Kings started brilliantly with the bat courtesy of Devon Conway and David Miller who played some explosive cricket during the middle phases of the game. Santner and Bravo came towards the end to apply the finishing touches. Knight Riders will certainly rue the missed chances on the field which resulted in the game drifting further away from them. They never got going with the bat either and lost too many wickets in the early part of the second innings which completely derailed them from the chase.
Without further ado, let us jump in to review some of the top performances from the opening day of the enthralling 2023 Major League Cricket (MLC) match.
DEVON CONWAY PUTS TEXAN SUPER KINGS IN THE DRIVING SEAT
Los Angeles Knight Riders opted to field and put Texas Super Kings to bat first. Super Kings got off to an electrifying start in the first over as Conway went after Khan and clobbered him for 12 runs in the first over. Lockie bowled an eventful second over dismissing Du Plessis for a golden duck and also created a lot of opportunities for his side, some of which went down begging.
But Super Kings batters were in no mood to fiddle around in the center. They wanted to take the attack to the Knight Riders bowlers and so they did. In no time, Super Kings raced to 43/1 in 5 overs. However, Lahiru Milantha went a bit too hard on the Knight Riders’ bowlers and was soon dismissed by Ali Khan for 17 (14).
At the halfway mark, Super Kings were cruising along nicely at 81/2. Conway was playing free-flowing shots where as Miller on the other end was milking singles and also taking the odd risk whenever the situation called for it. The duo tore into the bowling lineup and played some breathtaking shots which caused a lot of headaches for the Knight Riders captain. The flourishing partnership between Conway and Miller finally drew to a close when Zama dismisses Conway on 55 (37) during the 14th over. Conway and Miller put on an unassailable 3rd wicket partnership of 77 (49) which gave Texas Super Kings a much-needed platform to launch a big score. Conway raced to his 50 in fine style and scored at a scintillating strike rate of 148.64 which involved 7 fours and 1 six.
Miller however pushed on and got to his 50 in 34 deliveries. The Super Kings received another blow in quick succession as they lost Milind Kumar to Narine for a paltry score of 2. Super Kings
Found themselves in a slight spot of bother at 127-4 after 15 overs. With a few lusty blows from Santner and Bravo at the fag end of the innings, Texas Super Kings eventually ended with a strong total of 181/6. Ferguson and Ali Khan were the pick of the bowlers for the Los Angeles Knight Riders. The duo shared 4 wickets between them. Khan erred slightly on the expensive side going at 10 RPO. While Lockie bowled with more control as he turned out to be the most economical bowler for the Knight Riders going at just around 5.25 RPO.
Theron Gets Super Kings Off To A Flyer As The Knight Riders’ Batting Crumbles
Knight Riders got off to the worst possible start as they lost their marquee opener Martin Guptill for a duck to Rusty Theron in only the third ball of the second innings. Three deliveries later Rossouw was dismissed once again by Theron by an absolute jaffa of a delivery. At 4/2 in the very first over, the troubles for Los Angeles Knight Riders began to mount. Nitish Kumar became yet another Knight Riders’ batsman to register a duck as he too was dismissed on 0 by Calvin Savage.
More trouble followed as Coetzee went through the defenses of Unmukt Chand for 4. At this stage, Knight riders were struggling at 20/4. With the pressure beginning to build, Jaskaran Malhotra played a sensible knock and together with Andre Russel stitched a match-reviving 36-run stand in the space of just 14 balls. Russell teed off in his first few deliveries and was belting all around the park at an astronomically high strike rate of 342. But the quickfire partnership soon came to an end as Coetzee struck in his second over by knocking Jaskaran Malhotra over with an absolute snotter of a delivery.
Inside the first 5 overs, the Knight Riders had lost half their side without sufficient runs on board. Furthermore, with the required rate climbing upwards beyond 11 RPO, the Los Angeles Knight Riders were now staring at an inevitable defeat. Nevertheless, Russell waged a lone battle by dragging the Knight Riders on his shoulders during middle overs. A steady partnership between Narine and Russel was developing but in the 12th over, Mohsin entices Narine to go for the big shot. In the end, Narine holes out to long on and the Knight riders slipped further to 103/6.
The Knight Riders’ batting faltered further and when Russell was dismissed for 55 (34), it was all over for them as they fell 69 runs short of their required target. Mohammad Mohsin was the man who struck at the backend of the innings and finished up the tail picking up 4/8 in his three overs. Theron too bowled stupendously well with the new ball picking up 2/16 in his 2 overs.
WHAT TO FOLLOW
Texas Super Kings are off the mark with a very handsome victory. They are currently on top of the points table with a NRR of 3.450. They will play their next game against Washington Freedom on July 17. Los Angeles Knight Riders have been blown away in today’s fixture which has pushed their NRR to -3.450. They currently rank second in the points table and will face MI New York in their upcoming encounter on July 17.
Brief Scores
Texas Super Kings – 181/6 (Miller 61, Conway 55, Khan 2-40, Ferguson 2-23)
Los Angeles Knight Riders – 112/10 (Russell 55, Jaskaran 22, Mohsin 4-8, Theron 2-16)
End Result: Texas Super Kings beat Los Angeles Knight Riders by 69 runs.