Pooran’s incredible 137 gives MI New York its first MLC title.

Nicholas Pooran reserved his power-hitting masterclass for the last match,

Nicholas Pooran reserved his power-hitting masterclass for the last match, scoring 137 off 55 balls to give MI New York their first Major League Cricket title. Quinton de Kock’s 87 powered Seattle Orcas and gave them a half-time lead, but the MI New York captain blew them away with one of the best T20 innings ever.

Pooran’s stunning knock, which included 10 fours and 13 sixes, was the reason MI New York made mincemeat of a huge chase and completed it with 24 balls to spare. The MI club proved once again that they are T20 league royalty by adding the MLC league title to their trophy cabinet, which also includes five IPL and one WPL trophy.

When asked to bat, the Seattle Orcas struggled to their lowest PowerPlay total of the season (31/1), but Quinton de Kock and Shehan Jayasuriya rediscovered their groove in the subsequent overs. Jayasuriya went after David Wiese for 16 runs in the seventh over, while de Kock hit Steven Taylor for two fours in the eighth over. Jayasuriya fell to Taylor in the next over, but the stage was set for Orcas’ leading run-getter Heinrich Klaasen to drag his team ahead in the company of de Kock.

Pooran brought back Trent Boult to slow the pair down, and he nearly succeeded when de Kock appeared to hole out at deep backward square leg, only for the fielder to take a few steps back and step on the ropes with the ball still in his hands. The South African took advantage of the respite, batting 87 off 52 balls with nine fours and four sixes. Rashid Khan, who caught Klaasen at deep midwicket, dashed the Orcas’ chances of getting Klaasen going. Even though de Kock and Shubham Ranjane performed well to give Orcas a late push, Rashid bowled an outstanding session, finishing with 3 for 9 and 19 dot balls in four overs. Boult, by far the greatest bowler of the season, also grabbed three wickets, but 18 runs in the penultimate over from Wiese propelled Orcas to a scary score.

Pooran ripped it apart inside the PowerPlay as he swung for the fences on his way to the season’s quickest half-century, off 16 balls. When Imad Wasim cleaned up opener Steven Taylor in the first over, the West Indian walked out and immediately displayed his counter-attacking instincts. Pooran hit two massive sixes over deep midwicket and long off in the first over of the chase, which started nicely for Orcas.

He then saw through Dwaine Pretorius’ change of pace and hammered the length balls that the South African provided frequently in a 28-run over. Pooran reached his fifty with a six off Cameron Gannon in the fourth over, while MINY reached 56/1 in four overs. Wayne Parnell hauled his team back by dismissing Pooran’s passive batting partner, Shayan Jahangir, but Pooran answered with three sixes off Andrew Tye. MI New York reached 80/2 in six overs as a result, their best PowerPlay results of the season.

Even when the field limits were eased, Pooran continued to shift up a gear as he punished Wayne Parnell for offering him width and crushed Gannon’s short-pitched bowling. MI NY’s asking rate had dropped to under 7 by the end of the eighth over, as Parnell struggled to find a method to slow his team’s precipitous decline. Pooran hit a 40-ball 100 in the 12th over and was still not done.

Dewald Brevis was run out at the non-striker’s end after a shot from Pooran struck spinner Harmeet Singh’s hand and ricocheted onto the stumps, catching the South African beyond his crease. But that didn’t change the course of this final, as Tim David went out and pulled Andrew Tye for a four in the next over.

MI New York were relentless throughout, and Orcas simply couldn’t keep up as Pooran next targeted Harmeet, effortlessly hauling a hat-trick of sixes in a 24-run thrashing. Pooran could do no wrong on this night in Dallas, even when Gannon bowled a precise yorker slanted into the left-hander. Pooran lost his footing but was able to get his bat down in time to send the ball speeding down to the fine leg fence and finish the run-chase in just 16 overs.

Brief Scores: MI New York 184/3 in 16 overs (Nicholas Pooran 137*; Wayne Parnell 1-14) defeated Seattle Orcas 183/9 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 87, Shubham Ranjane 29; Rashid Khan 3-9, Trent Boult 3-34) by 7 wickets.