| Finals Report |
The mother of all battles unfolded on July 30 as MLC geared up to host their first final between Seattle Orcas and MI New York at Grand Prairie Stadium. It turned out to be a high-scoring thriller packed with intense fireworks and endless entertainment. MI New York finally managed to put an end to Seattle’s domination by clinching their first-ever MLC title in emphatic style.
Seattle Orcas got off to a steady start. They built partnerships during the early and middle phases of the first innings despite losing some quick wickets. De Kock was the main contributor with the bat. He along with Shubnam Ranjane and Dwaine Pretorius helped Seattle finish their first innings with a competitive score of 183.
Required to chase down a stiff target of 184, Nicholas Pooran made a mockery of Seattle’s bowling attack and took them to the cleaners. He single-handedly did the bulk of the scoring at a very electrifying pace which propelled MI New York to a crashing victory in record time. Seattle Orcas bowlers had no answer to Pooran’s aggression and had no option but to bow down to his audacious brilliance.
Nicholas Pooran’s blistering innings power MI New York to their maiden MLC Title
After having been asked to bat first by MINY, Seattle managed to score just 31 runs for the loss of one wicket in the first six overs. This was by far their lowest powerplay score of this season. Quinton de Kock and Shehan Jayasuriya kept the engine running after the powerplay and stitched a carefully orchestrated 41-run stand for the second wicket.
The latter fell to Taylor and De Kock almost followed him. But Jahangir misjudged and stepped on the rope to give De Kock a reprieve on 40. The southpaw notched up his second consecutive half-century of the season which came at a decent strike rate of 147.
However, wickets were tumbling at the other end as Heinrich Klaasen was removed during the 13th over against the run of play. Rashid Khan was at his miserly best and finished with incredible bowling figures of 3/9. Boult too picked up a three-fer using the knuckle ball to good effect in the death overs. Barring these bowlers, the rest of the MINY bowing card doesn’t look good as many bowlers including Wiese went around for plenty.
Quiton ended his innings on a high after playing a terrific knock of 87 from 52. Furthermore, a few decent cameos from Shubnam Ranjane and Dwaine Pretorius helped the Orcas edge past the 180-run mark.
In pursuit of 184, MI New York got off to the worst possible start after losing their local hero Taylor without a run on the board. But little did Seattle Orcas know what was heading their way. From this point onwards, it was only a one-man show as Nicholas Pooran took the matter into his own hands.
He launched a brutal assault by scoring a ground-breaking century which completely obliterated a formidable Ocras bowling attack. He raced to his century in just 40 balls and did the bulk of the heaving lifting to power New York to their maiden MLC title. Pooran scored at an exhilarating strike rate of nearly 250 and notched up an unbeaten 137 in 55 balls. His electrifying innings comprised 10 fours and 13 monstrous sixes.
His power-hitting turned out to be so brutal that the match concluded nearly 45 minutes before the expected cessation time. Pooran was in a rush to finish the game for his side and hit the winning runs to take MINY to a crushing victory with 24 balls to spare. Barring Pooran, the rest of the batting card looked very ordinary, to say the least. Modest contributions of 10 (11), 20 (18), and 10* (9) were made by Shayan Jahangir, Dewald Brevis, and Tim David respectively.
At the halfway stage, the Orcas seemed a touch ahead, especially after how they finished their innings. Taylor departed in the first over too which further consolidated Orcas’ grip on the game. But thereafter, Pooran got into the thick of things putting any and every bowler to the sword. As for the Orcas, they will be a little disappointed with their execution. All of their bowlers were dismantled and on the big occasion, they just could not turn up to stop the Pooran juggernaut.
Brief Scores
Seattle Orcas – 183/9 (De Kock 87, Ranjane 29, Rashid 3-9, Boult 3-34)
MI New York – 184/3 (Pooran 137, Brevis 20, Wasim 1-14, Parnell 1-22)
End Result: MI New York won by 7 wickets.
What to follow
Following the conclusion of the final match, MI New York walk away with the trophy. After enduring a scratchy season, the team bounced back well in the latter stages of the tournament. While for Seattle this must have been an agonizing defeat who have been consistently delivering right throughout the tournament. Their lackluster show with the ball ultimately cost them a win at a time when it mattered the most.
And with that, an extraordinary cricketing event on US soil comes to an end. The MLC tournament was certainly a success and was enjoyed by many fans within and outside the US. In the years to come, this league will serve as an ideal platform for our homegrown talent to compete with one of the best in the game which will enable them to progress their game to a whole new level.
However, the league has a long way to go and a lot of hard work still lies ahead of them in terms of driving the popularity of the spot in this country. But after getting off to such a bright start, MLC will return again next year with a whole new set of advancements that will surely bring the fans to the edge of their seats.