“I told myself, ‘you are going to bat like Nicky P’”- 137 runs | 55 balls | 10 fours | 13 sixes
By Vineet Anantharaman
Think of all the finals you’ve seen. Don’t just stick to cricket, go across sports. Think of all the all the great performances you’ve seen on the big stage. Again, across sports. You’ve probably seen the greatest of all time tonight. You know it’s not an overstatement. A captain, team under pressure, walking out to bat after the team loses a wicket in the first over, and he single-handedly chases down 184 with four overs to spare.
On a historic night for American cricket, and for the MI Family, winning their ninth title (five IPLs, two Champions League T20s, a WPL and now an MLC), Nicholas Pooran was the star. When he gets into the mood, there’s no point trying. Like tonight. Just accept. This is Nicky P’s world, and we are just there to watch him in awe.
Here we go then. Let’s relive the 55-ball bolt-from-another-planet, shall we?
He walked in with MI New York in sticky water. Steven Taylor had been dismissed off the third ball in the first over. The target was rather whopping: 184 in a big final is good enough pressure. Imad Wasim was bowling. And Pooran, first ball, met him with solid respect, defending it off his front foot. That was all the getting-in-your-eye he needed, for come ball two, he was immediately down on a knee to slog it for a maximum over deep mid-wicket, and followed it up staying tall an tonking the next over long-off. The bugle was sounded. The timing was sublime. The intent was right there. He wasn’t going to hang around.
The damning moment for the Seattle Orcas came in the third over. Poor Dwaine Pretorius was at the receiving end. 6, 6, 4, 6, 4, wide, 1 run. 28 runs were milked. None of these were mindless slogs. Each strike was cleaner than the previous, longer than the previous, more innovative than the previous. And then the juggernaut just didn’t stop. His fifty came off 16 balls in the fourth over, off another six of course.
Andrew Tye came in to bowl the final over of the powerplay. He snuck in three dots through the over too. The other three balls, you ask? Yep, sixes, each of them. 80 runs came in the powerplay. 100 came up in the eighth over, with the equation coming down to nearly a-run-a-ball. He found a good partner in Dewald Brevis, who was happy to play second fiddle from the other end, letting Nicky have all the limelight he needed.
Wayne Parnell, Seattle’s skipper, tried everything, pace, spin, pacers taking pace off, spinners bowling them quick. Nothing stayed on the ground. Everything was duly sent into orbit. Off over number 11.3, in just 40 balls, on the big night of the final, came the century, courtesy a pretty polite slice to deep point. Off went the helmet. Out went the arms. Smiles. Applause. Cheers. Everybody out there knew they’d witnessed something special.
The next target was Harmeet Singh and his left-arm spinners. In the 15th over, with the target well within sight, Pooran went, 4, 6, 6, 6 off consecutive deliveries. In a chanceless innings where everything came off the middle of the middle of his bat, it’s only fair that something found an edge. The winning shot did: Cameron Gannon bowled a pretty good yorker, something Nicky jammed his bat down to, and the ball found the inside-edge to roll away into the boundary.
137 runs | 55 balls | 10 fours | 13 sixes. The maiden MLC 2023 trophy in the bag. “I told myself, ‘you are going to bat like Nicky P,’” he said in the post-match interview soon after. Masterclass done right.
