Thanks to a successful chase against the LA Knight Riders with over two overs to spare, MI New York have kept themselves in the hunt for a playoff spot. Monank Patel, with his fourth half-century of the season, continued his golden run. He was at the post-match press conference, sharing what went on in the middle. Excerpts .. On his learnings from Sherfane Rutherford’s innings I thought if you saw his game, he started playing ground shots. He took time to start his innings. Then he started playing cricketing shots. We had a conversation after the first innings. We knew our bowlers did a great job. 150 on this pitch, I thought they were 15-20 runs short. That gave us time to play calculated shots. The plan for me initially was to back my strengths and play along the ground. It allowed myself to read the pitch and built a good partnership between myself and (Nicholas) Pooran. On the chat with Pooran in the middle We kept is very simple. We just wanted to watch the ball hard and play cricketing shots. When Sunil Narine was bowling, we knew he came in to look for wickets. We didn’t want to try too much. Just wanted to rotate the strike and convert the bad balls. Reason behind his consistent run this season It’s always good to contribute towards the team. MINY has retained me for three seasons and it’s my time to give them back. I’m trying to stay hungry and continue my form. On his conversations with Mark Boucher He shared a few things at the start of the tournament and gave us self-belief. He told us local players to own the tournament. The self-belief he gave really helped me. It was the perfect platform in this game for me. I just wanted to make sure I played at the other end. I knew we had left-right combinations till the fifth wicket. I knew Pooran, Bracewell and Pollard can hit whenever they want. So I just wanted to make sure I took the responsibility to play at least 40-50 balls. Thoughts on the chances of making it to the playoffs Firstly, we are going to enjoy this win. We still have a one day rest, we’ll have a proper recovery and have the same mindset when we come to the ground. Every game is a must-win game and we’ll focus on one game at a time. We are playing the same team again, so we know what our plans are and we’ll just look to execute them. 

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 powerplayFull 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: 68That 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 fiftyJust 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.. 

It’s that time. It’s that territory. It’s that motivation. WE.SIMPLY. HAVE.TO.WIN. Three teams – San Francisco Unicorns, Washington Freedom and Texas Super Kings – are through to the playoffs. The other three are battling it out for that one remaining spot. Seattle Orcas have won their last three games and are currently on six points with two games left. MI New York have three games left and a better net run-rate. Our task is cut out: win. A new ground will bring in a fresh start. At the Broward County in Florida, we are squaring off against the LA Knight Riders in the first of back-to-back games. It’s a team we have a good record against and are in a similar position as us. Let's get it over the line. What: LA Knight Riders vs MI New York When: July 3, 2025 | 15:00 local time (July 4, 4:30 IST)Where: Broward County, Florida What to expect: The one game that was played here saw a good contest between bat and ball. The ground here has generally been high-scoring, but there is a bit of rain going around, which could make things tricky. All in all, it promises to be a cracker!