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 showThe 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!

It’s just the beginning. Although the result might have not gone in MI New York’s favor, all-rounder Sunny Patel impressed with both bat and ball. He was at the post-match press conference, instilling positivity within all the fans. Excerpts..  On the advice he gets from the coachesThey’ve played the highest level of cricket for a long period of time. They keep telling me to believe in my skills that got me here. It’s just about hitting the top of the stumps and keeping the ball there. Thoughts on the pitch and the targetLuckily I had a good knock today. The only thing on my mind was to get as many runs as possible. The wicket was a bit slower and tricky. It was two-paced. We were just looking to get extra runs. It was a defendable score. Sometimes games go either side. We are still playing good cricket. It is just two games into the season, so we are trying to do the best we can. On Quinton’s impact in the powerplay Everyone knows Quinny (Quinton de Kock) is a brilliant batsman. He has done it for his country over many years. It was good to have a start in the powerplay. It’s good he is getting some good knocks in. On where the team is going wrong at the moment It’s not about going wrong somewhere. Sometimes things don’t go your way. Hopefully next time when we do the same planning that our team does, it goes our way. Whether dew played a part in the second inningsAs the evening progresses, dew comes in. There was quite a bit of dew at the end of the innings and was difficult for the fielders and bowlers to grip the ball. Whether he felt MINY were on top after Hassan Khan’s wicketEvery wicket seems to be important until the game finishes. We felt we were back in the game after that wicket and tried our best to get over the line. We’ll learn from our mistakes and we’ll try not to repeat it in the next game. 

Delano Potgieter, the South African all Rounder, will replace Azmatullah Omarzai, who is not available for the third season of the Cognizant Major League Cricket. Delano is no stranger to the #OneFamily, having played a key role in MI Cape Town's title-winning campaign at the SA20 2025. He made his First Class debut for Gauteng in 2018, immediately went on to top-score for his side in the Africa T20 Cup with 217 runs in six matches, and in the CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge that followed, picked up 17 wickets in nine matches for his side. With an economy rate of just 7.56 in T20s, he’s the perfect middle-overs run-drier. Welcome to MINY, DP! Let's add some more Gold to our Blue!