Match 4 | MINYvLAKR preview: Back-to-back games and no time to sulk

This one was for the ages! A match MI New York had no business winning with a 41-run margin at one stage, but Nicholas Pooran’s single-handed effort with the bat, and then the bowlers putting on a combined effort, tightening the screws and refusing to let the LAKR batters get any sort of momentum in the chase, ensured a happy end to proceedings. Quinton and fliers, the love story adds another chapter Tacky pitch? Having been sent in to bat first in slightly overcast conditions? Nothing seems to have made a difference to Quinton de Kock, who went about his business in the powerplay in style with three fours and two sixes in his 17-ball 33. Batting looked simple when he was around, until……The 40 runs | 5 wickets collapse Once he fell, the Caribbean trio in Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Jason Holder triggered a collapse, and suddenly at 75/5 in the 12th over, it just looked like an unplayable minefield. Nicky P, captain, leader, inspiration Nicholas Pooran stuck around. While it was a free-flowing typical Nicky innings a couple of games ago against TSK, this one was the gritty, captain’s anchor from him. He batted through the innings, scored 70 off 58, and with some help from Romario Shephed (20 off 16), took MINY to a 144/6 in 20 overs, giving the bowlers some chance. From 53/0 to 103 all-out, the MINY stranglehold! It all began with a stroke of luck, when confusion between Andre Russell and Colin Munro resulted in a run-out to open the door for MINY. They had put on a 53-run stand in the seventh over, and seemed to be cruising towards the total. Nosthush Kenjige then spun his web, getting Unmukt Chand and Sunil Narine in the same over. He followed it up with the dangerous Rovman Powell’s scalp an over later. And suddenly, the tables were turned. Corbin Bosch then came in, got Jason Holder and Andre Russell in the same over, before coming back and getting Fletcher, LAKR’s last batting hope to seal the deal in style. Let's not forget Romario Shepherd's spell either, conceding just five runs in his four overs! 50 runs, 10 wickets, and a heist successfully executed!

The Oakland Coliseum has been a some sort of a mystery. Some games have seen over 200 being scored for fun, while the same pitch has been two-paced and a real struggle for batters in the afternoon games. Against the LA Knight Riders, MI New York were caught up in a similar muddle at one point on Saturday (June 27), having been part of a low-scoring thriller a day earlier, and then having seen a massive chase in the next game. In what was going on to become another potential low-scoring encounter, the boys in Blue and Gold just stuck it out, got to a decent-looking total. And then created havoc with the ball. Nosthush Kenjige, who spun his web around the LAKR batters to trigger the collapse, was at the post-match press conference, sharing his views.“It’s been a little puzzling because some matches have gone to 200-220, and we played a match yesterday where we didn’t score enough, and today we defended 140,” he said. “What we can sense is that it gets better and better to bat on as the day progresses. So the plan was to get to 160 today. Nicky (Nicholas Pooran) showed the way to bat. He just stayed till the end and backed himself to hit those big ones at the end…once we got in we figured out that it was two-paced. We just looked to make sure to keep it as simple as possible. Once the run-rate started creeping up, they started making mistakes.”He was happy to give the entire coaching team the credit for his bowling plans and the eventual success. It’s the pre-match preparations where the game was won. “The credit goes to our Bowling Coach, Mitch (McClenaghan) and our Head Coach.  This is one of the teams where the preparations is top notch. There’s nothing that’s left unturned. Every time you go onto the field, you know what your plans are and who you are bowling to. It’s a different thing if you don’t execute. But it gives us the maximum chance to be successful.”At the halfway stage, when Nicholas Pooran was grinding it out for a 58-ball 70, you knew this wasn’t a featherbed. It was a knock that gave the entire team some belief. And Kenjige and Co. had their plans chalked out. “It’s very important for the team to have good chemistry and good vibes. If you see the captain, when we saw him bat, he batted close to 20 overs, but scores just 60-odd runs (70). In a usual T20, he would be making 120-130. You know then that this isn’t an easy wicket to bat on. The energy levels were high there, knowing what we are capable of. We have world class bowlers in our side as well. It was about controlling the controllables and just going there and seeing what we can do in those 20 overs,” he said.  Such wins lift the entire dressing room. Such wins set the tone for the rest of the season. MLC 2026, MI New York have arrived, officially! “It is early on in the tournament and it was quite needed as well. We were down 2-1 and this will help us swing that momentum around and we can get the ball rolling.”

We expected it to be a batting paradise, but it turned out to be anything but that. It was grippy, tricky, and the MI New York bowlers gave it their everything as they played around with just 127 runs, taking it really deep and making the TSK batters stretch for every run. Typical MINY Spirit! Alas, the result wasn’t to be.. Tajinder highlights start-stop batting performance It was evident rather quickly that this wasn’t a pitch where you could just play through the line, and the TSK bowlers too went to the slower into-the-wicket deliveries quickly. Monank Patel and Tyan Rickelton fell early. Quinton de Kock chipped in with a useful 20(18). Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard couldn’t do much either as Donovan Ferreira got the better of them. But Tajinder Dhillon came like a man in a hurry, batted like he was batting on a different wicket. 4, 1, 6, 4, 6 and out. His 10-ball 22 gave the innings a much-needed impetus.  Useful lower-order chip ins give us a fighting totalCorbin Bosch: 24(27)Sunny Patel: 26(24)Trent Boult: 18(12)And MINY finished with 127/9 in their 20 overs. Maybe slightly under-par, but still something to play around with on this challenging pitch. Rushil Ugarkar adds another chapter to his exceptional growth Deadly accurate in the powerplay, Rushil got rid of the dangerous Faf du Plessis with an efforted back of a length delivery early, and then came back in the later stages with another well-disguised slower one to dismiss Rilee Rossouw. He kept stitching in the dots to finish with a superb 4-0-16-2. “The guys came out and they bowled brilliantly, kept us in the game till obviously the last over of the game there. So, well done to the guys. Great effort,” said skipper Nicholas Pooran in the post-match presentation. “In hindsight, if we scored 10 runs, we would have won this game.”Chin up, Fam. We fought, showed character, and refused to throw in the towel. There’s no time to sulk as we have another one coming up in less than 24 hours. It’s LAKR, a team we have a wonderful record against, but who are coming in on the back of back-to-back wins and are the team to beat. It promises to be a cracker!