MI NEW YORK STORM INTO THE MLC 2023 FINAL
By Vineet Anantharaman
Try saving some of those nails. Try saving your vocal chords. Try not running around waving the Blue and Gold. We. Have. Booked. Our. Date. With. History.
Oh this was a comeback for the ages. A bounce-back from a point where our backs were well and truly against the wall. And it’s always special pulling off these heists against the Super Kings, even more so when the stakes are this huge and the reward is a spot in the maiden MLC Finale.
With Trent Boult swinging it into our kitty with more ‘Four’ce and with each of our batters just churning out short, quick, sweet cameo after cameo, we’ve put in that complete team performance to carry us through. This is what team sport is all about. This is what stepping up in the play-offs is all about. This what the MI Family is all about.
Three games, three four-fers, the genius that is Trent Boult
A four-wicket haul in a T20 is rare. To do it twice is mastery. To do it in three successive games on a stage as big as this is pure genius. That’s Trent Boult for you.
- du Plessis c Brevis b Boult 6(9) – undone by the outswing of the new ball, getting a leading-edge to point
- Santner c Pooran b Boult 6(3) – a back of a length delivery that seamed away now, nicking off to the keeper
- Conway c Brevis b Boult 38(35) – his customary strikes at the death, getting rid of the set batter with a short ball
- Savage b Boult 6(2) – yep, Boult was savage. Undone with a top knuckle ball
The constantly improving Shayan Jahangir
If ever there was an award to be given out for the most-improved USA player through the MLC, Shayan’s winning it hands down. In the league stage game against the Texas Super Kings, he’d tried to anchor through the innings but fell at the wrong stage. But he’s more than made up for it here in the qualifier. An 18-ball 36 at the top of the innings, when the pitch wasn’t at its best and the other batters in Slade van Staden and even Nicky P found the going tough.
The Tim David treatment to a chase
Why worry when Tim’s out there? The asking rate touched nearly 11 at one point. Dewald Brevis was on 16 off 22. Tim on 7 off 12. Safe to say they were looking scratchy and the momentum was nowhere to be found. But come the time-out, some button somewhere clicked. Some switch went on. With sheer muscle behind this hit, Tim smoked Mitch Santner down the ground for a six, and then followed it up with three more off four deliveries against Mohammad Mohsin to resurrect MI NY’s chase.
Easy Wiese
34 runs | 24 balls. While Brevis was doing it in boundaries from the other end, with Tim’s sweet form rubbing off on him, David Wiese was more than happy to do it in twos. His experience of being around and his cool head were well and truly on display, as he refused to panic, brought the equation down to a-run-a-ball in the last two overs, and made full use of a dropped chance to smash a half-tracker over cow corner to kill the game. It was only fair that DB, who’d hung it out through the tough period got to apply the finishing touches, and stamp our arrival into the grand finale.
It's a Sunday in the USA, an early Monday morning if you happen to be in India, but you better save the date. MI New York vs Seattle Orcas for the maiden MLC title. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be historic. The tickets have already been sold out. You’ve done superbly to break the odd-match jinx. Let’s get all the Blue we can, and go for Gold!
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“The best in our batting is yet come to come”: Nicholas Pooran
Two wins in three games from the LA leg. On some tough batting wickets, MI New York showed a lot of fight and character. As we head back to Dallas for the last three league games with a mission to qualify for the playoffs, skipper, Nicholas Pooran believes the peak is still to come.“The next week is going to be really important, with the final three games in Dallas. This week was really important for us and we're leaving LA with two wins from three games. As a captain, we're really happy and we'll continue to build,” he said on the back of the loss to San Francisco Unicorns. “Our batting has been improving, we'll keep fighting, and I believe the best is yet to come.”One of the bright spots in the game was Tristan Luus, whose late contribution with the bat (12) and a 2/21 with the ball kept MINY in the hunt. At the post-match press conference, he spoke about bouncing back from such games. “I think there is a lot of teams that have bad games and bad days. It’s all about the bounce back. We have a good team and we are still in a good position in this tournament. We just need to regroup, have a good conversation about this game and then from there basically don’t try to think about this game.”There’s an instant redemption on offer as both these teams clash once again in Texas in two days. With just two points separating the top-ranked and the bottom-ranked team on the table, this sure is heating up! 07 Jul, 2026SFUvMINY report: Arghhh, not quite the perfect end to the LA leg :(
It wasn’t our day. On the wrong side of the toss and put in to bat when the pitch was sticky, the MI New York batters just couldn’t get going. Undone by some sharp bowling, it was a late effort from the tail that got us past 100, and then our seamers tried hard too, but with the ball skidding on under lights and the advantage of chasing a smallish target, it wasn’t to be. Pooran tries infusing momentum, but MINY wobbleEvery match, we’ve had someone step up, play the anchor, and bat through. It looked like Nicholas Pooran would be that guy tonight, looking good with four fours in his 19-ball 20, as the rest of the top-order fell around him. But he too fell in the seventh over. It wasn’t a day for Kieron Pollard’s heroics either as the team collapse to 65/7 in the 15th over. Bosch, Luus and a late-order resurgence Corbin Bosch: 22(21)Tristan Luus: 12(14)And thanks to this 30-run stand for the eighth wicket to get the team up to 104, MINY had something to play around with. A sliver of hope. What a debut, Faisal! Debuts just don’t get any sweeter. Opening the bowling, off the first legal ball of his career, he cleaned up the dangerous Lhuan-dre Pretorius. And then followed up next over with a sharp bouncer that got big on Finn Allen, who could only miscue it as far as mid-on. With Tristan Luus and Tajinder Dhillon chipping in, at 66/4, there was slight hope of a special Blue and Gold defence, but alas, Matthew Short and Sanjay Krishnamurthi kept going and saw the Unicorns home. Chip up Fam, we’ve played some special cricket over the last three games to sustain the kind of run we did. As we head back to Texas for our final league leg with the playoffs berth beckoning, this is the time to not lose steam. We have an instant opportunity with the reverse fixture coming up in the very next game to set things right.. 06 Jul, 2026LAKRvMINY report: 2014 to 2026 – Polly and Corey winning it for the Blue and Gold!
One of the lasting memories from the 2014 IPL seasons was that of Kieron Pollard and Corey Anderson playing blinders and pulling Mumbai Indians through past the finish line in matches that seemed dead and buried. Tonight, 12 years later, they’ve rolled back the clock to pull off a similar heist at the MLC. The partnership: 88 runs | 48 balls……and a mastery in calculating this chase and taking it deep. At 80/4 in the 12th over, things looked dicey. The target of 166 was still some distance away and the asking rate was touching 11s. Pollard started aggressively. Corey responded with a six and a four off Jason Holder in the next over, before playing out Sunil Narine out in the 15th over. The requirement: 62 runs in five overs.Over #16: 11 runs Over #17: 19 runs Over #18: 13 runs Over #19: 10 runs And just like that, nine runs were needed off the final over, and through a massive tonk over long-on, Anderson sealed the deal in style. Kieron Pollard, a gift that keep giving 63 runs | 35 balls | 6 fours | 2 sixes. He just doesn’t get tired, does he! Churning out another legend-class, adding a feather to an already-decorated hat, KP did KP things. Tonight, he took the attack to the opposition immediately, toyed around with the equation, the bowling, and made sure he pulled off another of his iconic chases. Bosch-Ugarkar set it upWith three wickets apiece, MINY’s pace bowling duo made sure the LAKR batters never got off the hooks, chipping away with regular wickets. On a pitch that has progressively gotten better for batting over the last three days, 165 was a total we’d have taken at the start. WWWhoaaa!!!! Three wins on the trot. Table-toppers. Peak MI New York have touched down!! 05 Jul, 2026
