LAKRvMINY report: Cometh the hour, cometh Trent Boult
By MI New York Media
Clinical, that’s what MI New York were in brushing the LA Knight Riders aside in the first of three must-win games ahead of the playoffs. And it was the experienced warhorses in Trent Boult, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran and Monank Patel who took it upon themselves to kickoff the Florida leg on a happy note.
b Boult x3 in the powerplay
Full inswinger, through the gate on Unmukt Chand’s cover drive off the very first ball of the game to set the tempo. A scrambled seam delivery under the heave of Andre Fletcher a couple of overs later to rattle the stumps. And the dangerous Andre Russell done in by the change in pace to clean him up as well. Oh, Trent Boult was breathing fire. He meant business, and LAKR were rocked to 29/3 in the powerplay itself.
Rutherford: 86, rest of LAKR: 68
That should sum it up. Sherfane Rutherford was the only batter LAKR batter who found some rhythm, as Pollard (2/15), Ehsan Adil and Nosthush Kenjige kept getting wickets at the other end to derail their innings. His 44-ball knock of 86 was what took them to a decent total of 154. Who got rid of him in the end? Boulty, who else!
Another day, another Monank fifty
Just pure consistency. Notching up his fourth half-century of the season, Monank Patel laid the foundation for the chase with a solid 44-ball 56. He played aggressor in the beginning in his partnership with skipper Pooran, who took his time to get in. But once they got the measure of this sticky pitch, they stuck in, and how!
The big match Nicky P
With an unbeaten 47-ball 62, ensuring we storm home in style, Nicky P did was he does best: entertain. And Polly, with two lusty hits at the end to seal it off early and boost the NRR, well, was Polly being Polly.
So, fam, we can smile. Florida is being nice. We have two back-to-back games over the next two days. We have the momentum. Let’s storm through..