Pooran Madness crowns MI New York as first Major League Cricket Champions
Weather was over 100 degrees in Dallas on Sunday, but it was Nicholas Pooran’s batting that raised the temperature at Grand Prairie Stadium as MI New York beat Seattle Orcas to claim the inaugural title of Major League Cricket.
In front of a buzzing full-house mostly painted in blue, the New York captain led from the front scoring an unbeaten 137 off just 55 deliveries steering his team single handedly to chase the 184-run target with four overs to spare.
“I am still at the loss of words,” said Pooran in the post-match press conference on Sunday. “This is probably my best T20 innings ever and I am just happy that I could be there at the end. It is a special moment for me and my family.”
The batsman set the record for scoring the fastest century in MLC by reaching the milestone off just 40 balls which is also the fastest by any batsman scored in any T20 franchise league’s final in the world.
“Pooran was amazing, he was hitting the ball all left, right and center,” said Mohsin Barderkar, a MI New York fan after the match ended. “Everywhere he was clicking, it was going over the roof, whatever was in his arc; was going over the park. We loved it.”
Nita Ambani, owner of the New York team and all other MI franchises, was also present at the stadium and watching the match in her signature style from the players’ dugout. Barderkar said that New York won because of Ambani, calling her team’s “lucky charm.”
“When we were entering the stadium, we saw the MI NY owner and thought man if she is here, we are getting the trophy,” the 52-year-old added.
Batting first after losing the toss, Orcas put on 183 on board. Quinton de Kock was the highest scorer for his team with 87 runs to his name while for New York, both Trent Boult and Rashid Khan got three wickets each.
That seemed like a decent total before the Pooran madness befell the Orcas bowlers, giving them no break as the batsman smashed thirteen sixes and ten fours in his match-winning innings.
“Our captain here this afternoon was brilliant with that knock, and I don’t think you will see a much better ending there anywhere in the world,” said MI fast bowler Trent Boult.
The left-arm pacer with twenty-two wickets was the highest wicket-taker of the tournament while his captain Pooran was the top run-scorer with 388 runs to his name.
“It is obviously nice to contribute,” Boult said. “Personally, from a bowling point of view I thought this was the best surface we came up on inside the couple of weeks; it was a true surface really.”
Meanwhile when the losing captain was asked if toss and playing under lights had played a role in New York’s victory, Wayne Parnell said that it was Pooran’s innings that made the difference.
“Nicholas played a remarkable innings, so I think we have to give credit where credit is due,” Parnell said in the post-match conference. “In T20 cricket whenever someone plays a knock like that more often than not his team will win.”
Orcas had the most successful run in the tournament being table toppers with four wins in the first round and then becoming the first team to qualify for the final after beating Texas Super Kings in Qualifier One on Thursday.
“The process we were on last couple of weeks was trying to create some sort of culture within the squad and obviously that translates onto how we played out,” Parnell said.
While New York only had two victories before entering the play-offs, they built a great momentum during the knock-out games defeating Washington Freedom in Eliminator One on Thursday and Super Kings in Eliminator Two the next day.