MI New York Storm into MLC Final with Thrilling Win

MI New York captain Nicholas Pooran's words, "Not sure how we got to the final, but we are in the final now," sum up the dramatic turn of events that saw them reach the second Major League Cricket final in three years.

The team's seven-wicket win over Texas Super Kings in the Challengers was a thrilling one, with Smit Patel and Faf du Plessis making a watchful start. Du Plessis' 59 was the highlight of TSK's innings, but Tristan Luus and Rushil Ugarkar broke the back of the top-order, reducing them to 43 for 3.

Akeal Hosein and Donovan Ferreira's late charge helped TSK post a competitive total, but it was MI New York's batting that stole the show. Quinton de Kock was dismissed early, but Monank Patel, who was dropped twice, made them pay with 49 runs.

However, it was Kieron Pollard who changed the course of the contest with his aggressive batting, hammering 22 runs off Zia ul Haq in five balls. Pooran then cut loose, taking advantage of minor errors in length from Adam Milne, and the pair combined to wipe out the remaining runs in the penultimate over.

Final Score: MI New York 172/3 in 19 overs (Nicholas Pooran 52*, Monank Patel 49; Akeal Hosein 1-11) beat Texas Super Kings 166/5 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 59, Akeal Hosein 55*; Tristan Luus 3-35, Rushil Ugarkar 2-31) by 7 wickets.