Rashid and Boult give MI New York a good start.

Star bowlers Trent Boult and Rashid Khan each took three wickets to help MI New York knock out the Orcas for 108 after winning the crucial toss on a sticky ground.

Nicholas Pooran smashed a 37-ball 62* to help hunt down this pitiful score in 14.2 overs. Champion Defendants at the initial MLC 2024 match, MI New York defeated the Seattle Orcas by a commanding six-wicket margin at Morrisville.

Boult took wickets in the first over as usual when he had Nauman Anwar nicking off to a delivery that was angling across him. The dangerous Quinton de Kock was dismissed by the left-armer in his following over as he attempted a whip to a full delivery that blew up off a leading edge and fell into Nicholas Pooran gloves. After coming into the offensive during the last Power Play over, Rashid established himself with a full delivery that Aaron Jones failed to catch with his attempted sweep, leading to an LBW decision.

After misfiring on a pull that went straight to deep mid-wicket, Rashid took a bigger wicket and went on to win a crucial match against Heinrich Klaasen. Only Shubham Ranjane’s 31-ball 35 added any semblance of respectability to the scorecard as the Orcas continued to stumble through the knock. He was Rashid’s third wicket of the innings. With four balls remaining in the Orcas’ innings, Boult equaled that with a third wicket of his own, while skipper Kieron Pollard claimed two wickets.

The chase by MINY was off to a shaky start as Cameron Gannon easily dismissed openers Ruben Clinton and Monank Patel. While Shayan Jahangir, his partner for the third wicket, could only muster three out of eight during Nicholas Pooran counterattacking 41-run stand, the latter went about the chase in a counterattacking manner. With thirty-four balls remaining, the Caribbean T20 player hit seven fours and two sixes to help his team over the finish line.

Summary: MI New York defeated Seattle Orcas 108/4 in 14.2 overs (Nicholas Pooran 62*; Cameron Gannon 2-40) by six wickets. Seattle Orcas scored 35 runs in 19.2 overs (Rashid Khan 3-22, Trent Boult 3-25).

LA Knight Riders vs. Texas Super Kings

The LA Knight Riders, led by Unmukt Chand and Ali Khan, opened their season at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas with a 12-run victory over the Texas Super Kings. When Chand was put to bat, he brilliantly held LA’s innings together with 45 balls, leaving the bowlers with 162 to defend. When Devon Conway hit a half-century in the 14th over, TSK looked certain to reach that score. However, Ali Khan (4-33) took three wickets in the next over and completely turned the game upside down.

Rain caused a half-hour delay in the start of this match, but Faf du Plessis urged LA to grab the lead once the field was cleared for play. Zia-ul-Haq supported his decision by dismissing openers Jason Roy and Sunil Narine with two wickets in his second over. The veteran of Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan, joined Chand for a breezy stand of 39, to which the latter contributed 18 (13).

Following his removal, David Miller and Andre Russell both lost their wickets, with Russell being out on a hit-wicket after batting too deep in his position. Nitish Kumar blasted two sixes in a 17-ball knock of 26. Chand led the score above 150 from a shaky 106/6. He scored three sixes and six fours overall. With three of the four deliveries he faced going for boundaries, Corne Dry, batting at No. 9, added 12 vital runs, which proved to be the winning margin.

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In the end, TSK was left to lament the 14th and 15th overs of their chase after losing four wickets in a 12-ball span, three of which came off the bowl of Ali Khan in the 14th. They had taken command of the pursuit up until that point thanks to Conway’s 39-ball 53. Conway tried to dab a length ball towards third man but missed, and Ali cleaned him out with his second delivery.

Then, at third man, Derone Davis made an incredible diving catch that defeated Joshua Tromp. To eliminate Milind Kumar at first slip, Russell made an outstanding catch. Marcus Stoinis was then trapped LBW by Sunil Narine, who delivered the ideal follow-up over. Despite a late appearance by Calvin Savage (29* off 18), the chase was abandoned and TSK was not successful.