The Major League Cricket 2024 season commenced on Friday with MI New York beginning their title defense with a commanding six-wicket win over the Seattle Orcas. All eyes were on Nicholas Pooran at Church Street Park in Morrisville as the West Indian wicketkeeper-batter continued his form from the 2023 edition. His unbeaten 62 off just 37 balls helped MI New York chase down 109 in just 14.2 overs. With the early wickets of Ruben Clinton (6) and USA’s national team skipper Monank Patel (8), the initial momentum seemed to be in the Seattle Orcas’ favor. Cameron Gannon was the main bowling aggressor, dismissing both batters in the third over and giving his team a ray of hope.
But then, Pooran proceeded to hit Gannon for two sixes and as many fours in his next over, turning the tide in MI New York’s favor. Eventually, Pooran’s power-hitting abilities proved to be too much for the Seattle Orcas. They got the wickets of Shayan Jahangir (3) and Tim David (12) as well, but the left-handed Pooran and his countryman Kieron Pollard (8*) took their team over the line for their first win of MLC 2024. Earlier in the day, the skills of the MI New York bowlers were on display as they bowled out the Seattle Orcas for just 108 runs. Rashid Khan and Trent Boult bagged three wickets each, never really allowing their opponents to settle into the match.
New Zealand’s star pacer Boult got the early breakthrough in the opening over itself, sending Nauman Anwar back to the pavilion for a duck. The Pakistan batter’s late attempt to cut the ball away caught a faint edge which traveled to the wicketkeeper and eventual match-winner, Nicholas Pooran. With Quinton de Kock (5) still in the crease, the Seattle Orcas could still hit a competitive score, but he was also gone in Boult’s next over. His attempt to hit the ball through the leg side was met with a top edge, and Pooran did well to get underneath it and send de Kock back to the pavilion.
From then on, MI New York were in the driving seat, getting regular wickets. For the Seattle Orcas, Shubham Ranjane ended as the highest run-getter with a tidy innings of 35 runs in 31 balls. Finding the boundary regularly, Ranjane proved to be a threat before he tried to hit Rashid Khan for consecutive sixes but fell short in his second attempt, hitting the ball to Tim David instead. Harmeet Singh, who recently featured for the USA in the T20 World Cup, played a 20-run cameo as the side set a target that was eventually chased down by the defending champions with 34 balls to spare.
UNMUKT CHAND STARS FOR LA KNIGHT RIDERS
In the second match of the 2024 Cognizant Major League Cricket, Los Angeles Knight Riders put up a brilliant show to take down the Texas Super Kings by 12 runs at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas, on the opening night of the season. Unmukt Chand’s brilliant 68 off 45 balls powered the LA Knight Riders to a total of 162/7 in their allotted 20 overs. Ali Khan then delivered a match-winning performance, taking four wickets for 33 runs, to restrict the Texas Super Kings to 150/8, clinching the win by 12 runs.
On what turned out to be a challenging batting wicket, the Texas Super Kings began their chase of 163 runs cautiously. Skipper Faf du Plessis (14 off 14), who attempted to accelerate the run rate, was dismissed by Spencer Johnson in the fifth over. Trying his signature scoop, he mistimed the shot and was caught by Derone Davis at mid-wicket. Aaron Hardie (11 off 14) was then sent packing by Shakib Al Hasan in the ninth over.
Opener Devon Conway kept the scoreboard ticking, steadily taking the Super Kings closer to the target with timely boundaries. However, Ali Khan turned things around for the LA Knight Riders by taking three wickets in the 14th over. He bowled Conway, hitting the off-stump, then dismissed Joshua Tromp (18 off 14), who was caught by Derone Davis with a stunning catch, as the ball was flying off the edge to third man. The subsequent delivery saw Milind Kumar (0 off 1) caught at slip by Andre Russell. Marcus Stoinis (2 off 6) fell in the following over, scoring just two off six balls, leaving the Super Kings reeling from 100/2 to 107/6 after 15 overs.
However, Calvin Savage took matters into his own hands and kept the Super Kings in the game with a flurry of boundaries and sixes. He, along with Naveen-ul-Haq, smashed 17 runs off Ali Khan in the 18th over to take the equation down to 27 runs from 12 balls. Russell and Khan then bowled exceptional final two overs to close out the game for LA Knight Riders.
Source Agencies
