TSKvMINY report: A RASHIDO special for the ages, but we fall just short
By MI New York Media
From the dead, from what was looking like an easy win for the Texas Super Kings at one point, we fought back, and how! Rashid Khan, with a 22-ball fifty, and Monank Patel, switching gears to smash a 45-ball 61, put MI New York in with a serious chance of pulling off this chase of 177 after being 52/5. Alas, it wasn’t to be..
The 97-run-stand from smash-land
It’s not every day that players from the losing side end up winning the Player of the Match award, and that should tell you the brilliance of Rashid Khan’s knock. Four fours, five sixes, and from a point where MI new York needed 125 runs in 52 balls, he refused to throw in the towel. With Monank Patel playing second fiddle to perfection, the duo brought the equation down to 33 runs being needed off eight balls. The fairytale finish didn’t quite come though, with DJ Bravo bowling a tight 19th over, but this partnership is what defines the MINY spirit, one that never gives up!
“It would have been great to be on the winning side. The plan was to have a positive mindset and back my skill. It is more of the belief I have and thank the team management as well for believing I can bat at number 7. I have to keep backing myself and do the basics right,” said Rashid in the post-match presentation ceremony.
The costly top-order collapse
In the end, it was the batting powerplay that hurt us. Ruben Clinton, Steven Taylor and Nicholas Pooran fell inside the first four overs. Although Kieron Pollard and Tim David tried their bit to rebuild, they couldn’t quite get going, and we were reduced to 52/5 in the 12th over.
Thunder-Boult strikes twice!
While our batting powerplay was a disappointment, TSK’s was quite the opposite. Devon Conway and Faf du Plessis smashed 85 in 8.5 overs, setting the platform for a possible 190+ finish. Nah, Trent Boult wouldn’t let them. He pulled things back superbly at the death, with two wickets in the 17th over, to keep them to a par score of 176.
It might not be the result we were looking for, but this is exactly the fight we needed. Our refusal to give in, the intent to keep fighting right until the end, is only going to make us stronger. With three games now to go, and the race for the playoffs heating up, it sets us up perfectly for what is to come. Onwards, upwards, and onto bigger things..
