SFUvMINY report: Not our night! Bartlett blitz trumps QDK special
By MI New York Media
Ah, well. It wouldn’t have been wrong for the Blue and Gold army to have assumed we were favorites to win this one at the 15th over stage in the second innings. The Unicorns were seven down, the asking rate was mounting, and we were well and truly into their tail. Alas, it wasn’t to be.
Naveen, Boult, Ehsan set the tempo upfront
The dangerous man in form, Finn Allen, was snapped up early tonight with Naveen-ul-Haq foxing him with a slower one. Tim Seifert couldn’t quite get going either. Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sanjay Krishnamurthi and Cooper Connolly fell for single digit scores. Hassan Khan smashed a 17-ball 43, but having reduced SFU to 108/6 in the 13th over, MINY were well and truly in control.
The Bartlett show
The 15th over was where things turned. 64 runs were needed off 36 balls. Bartlett cut loose, taking Michael Bracewell apart with three sixes and a four in a 25-run over. He continued the assault against Boult as well in the 17th over with a six and two fours to get the equation well within reach. It was his night.
The positives: Quinton sets it up, Polly finishes
Vintage QDK was on display tonight, striking the ball beautifully with some lovely strokes all around the ground in his 38-ball knock of 63, studded with five fours and four sixes. Monank Patel (20 off 14), Bracewell (17 off 11) gave him good support. But the finish that took MINY to a strong total of 182 came through our forever trusted warhorse, Kieron Pollard, who smashed four sixes in his 16-ball knock of 30, powering us to a big one.
Let’s not get too disappointed, folks. We might have been on the wrong side of two nail-biters, but we know how to bounce back from a slow start and get on a roll. It’s in the Blue and Gold blood!