MI New York did not just need a win but they needed to fulfill a condition to qualify for Major League Cricket (MLC) playoffs. Skipper Kieron Pollard rose to the occasion and with the crucial wicket of Andre Russell followed by an unbeaten cameo helped MI New York beat Sunil Narine's Los Angeles Knight Riders by four wickets with three overs to spare.
Russell fights lone battle
Pollard won the toss and opted to bowl first. Trent Boult struck early to dismiss Narine. Unmukt Chand got out lbw to Romario Shepherd whereas Jason Roy got knocked over by Rashid Khan. David Miller failed in the big match and became Nosthush Kenjige's first victim of the evening. Knight Riders' collapse continued and they lost seven wickets for 81 runs in 14.2 overs. But Russell's 21-ball 35 cameo helped Knight Riders post 130 on the board. Russell would have taken the score further but Pollard bowled the last over and got his wicket off the first ball. MI New York needed to chase down the target of 131 in 18.2 overs to progress in the tournament.
Pollard, Pooran's cameo take MI New York home
In the run chase, Dewald Brevis delivered with a 19-ball 27 cameo. But wickets kept falling for MI New York and they lost half the side for 91. Nicholas Pooran held on to one end. Pollard joined him in the middle in the 14th over. Pooran scored 35 runs from 28 balls before losing his wicket to Ali Khan. But before the wicketkeeper-batter departed, Pollard's three consecutive sixes off Spencer Johnson ensured that MI New York get closer to the target. Rashid in the 17th over finished the run chase with a boundary as MI New York won by four wickets and made their way into playoffs.
Pollard on the crucial win
MI New York will now take on Texas Super Kings in the Eliminator on July 24 at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas. Pollard was relieved after taking his team to playoffs.
“Very relieved, congrats to the entire team. The way we fought, everyone chipped in usefully. If we look at the history of how we've batted, 130 was a tough ask. But we got another opportunity, the attitude shown by everyone was fantastic. I've had some experience, Nosthush came to me after one game and said that things will turn out good, my family was always backing me, coming from a young player, it meant a lot,” the Caribbean all-rounder said in the post-match presentation.
Pollard also explained why he chose to bowl the 20th over against a rampant Russell.
“I always pride myself on performing for the franchise and I'm glad it came off today. It was a plan that worked out in the end (on bowling the 20th over), I could've gone for 20 and they could have got past 150. I could have gone for the young guy (Rushil Ugarkar), but it was one of the days when we got what we wanted,” he added.
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