Watch: Nicholas Pooran smashed one of the greatest T20 centuries in the final of the inaugural edition of Major League Cricket yesterday (July 30) leading his team MI New York to a maiden title.
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Having won the toss, New York decided to field first and were given a target of 184 after Quinton de Kock carried the Seattle Orcas innings with a 52-ball 87 at the top.
For New York, Trent Boult picked 3-34 in four overs, while Rashid Khan was at his miserly best, giving away just nine runs in his four overs and picking three wickets to go with it.
In response, New York lost their first wicket off the third ball of the innings when Imad Wasim cleaned up Steven Taylor. Pooran arrived at No.3 and set the stage on fire immediately.
He hit his second and third balls – the last two of the first over of the innings – for sixes. The third over, bowled by Dwaine Pretorius, went for 28 runs, including three sixes and two fours, while the last over of the powerplay bowled by Andrew Tye went for 18, including three more sixes.
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By the end of six overs, New York had raced to 80-2, with Pooran scoring 69 of those. And he did not relent after that either. He hit four more boundaries in the next two overs and reached his hundred in the 12th off just 40 balls.
A chase that had looked difficult on paper when at the beginning was turned into a cakewalk. By the end of the 12th over, New York needed only 49 in 48 balls.
Pooran scored 37 off the last 17 balls he faced after his hundred, and New York completed the chase on the last ball of the 16th over when he squeezed out a Cameron Gannon yorker to the fine leg fence to collapse on the pitch and let out a roar.
With this victory, the Mumbai Indians brand have now won the inaugural editions of the Women’s Premier League and Major League Cricket this year, to go along with their five IPL and two Champions League trophies.
Watch all of Nicholas Pooran’s sixes from his outrageous century in the MLC 2023 Final:
𝓞𝓷 𝓻𝓮𝓹𝓮𝓪𝓽 🔄
Can’t stop watching @nicholaspooran’s 1️⃣3️⃣ sixes he hit today‼️ #MLC2023 #MLCFINAL pic.twitter.com/OynKTi2xnD
— Major League Cricket (@MLCricket) July 31, 2023
