MI London’s opening-night romp built on Pooran, Curran power

MI London made a statement on night one, with Nicholas Pooran and Sam Curran leading a dominant performance.

Pooran and Curran shine

Both batters took control of the game. Pooran provided big-hitting fireworks while Curran chipped in with explosive batting and key contributions. The team put together a complete performance to cruise to victory on opening night. Their batting power overwhelmed the opposition. The win gives MI London early confidence and sets the tone for their campaign in the tournament.

Defending a modest total of 143, the Sunrisers had made a promising start. Brydon Carse bowled upwards of 90mph in a fiery opening spell, bamboozling Will Jacks and nicking off birthday boy Jason Roy to leave MI London wobbling at 4 for 2.

And when James Vince was cleaned up by Nathan Ellis, the Aussie sending his middle stump cartwheeling with a peach of an inducker to leave the score 51 for 3 after 44 balls, the Sunrisers looked marginal favourites.

Pooran takes over after early wicket. Pooran came in and immediately went on the attack. He smashed 2 fours and a six in 3 balls off Benny Howell and quickly found his rhythm. Curran’s big hitting Alongside Pooran, Sam Curran starred with 5 fours and 3 sixes.

Pooran, the Meerkat Match Hero, said of his partnership with Curran: "Sam was set and we just tried to stay as positive as we could. It was all about hitting a couple to the boundary and trying to take that partnership all the way through to the end."

On having his wife and daughter in the crowd, he added: "It was nice to have them here, to score a fifty and send a kiss to them. I know they will be really happy. This year has been a really challenging year for me personally when it comes to batting so I'm just really happy to have the opportunity to continue to do what I love to do."

The pair inflicted an opening-night defeat on the franchise Pooran played for in 2024 as Northern Superchargers. Sunrisers’ fast start undone Earlier, Ryan Rickelton and Mitch Marsh gave Sunrisers a quick start after MI London won the toss and bowled. Rickelton hit 3 sixes in 5 balls and cut Richard Gleeson for four, but then fell lbw to Curran.

MI London 144 for 3 (Curran 60*, Pooran 58*) beat Sunrisers Leeds 143 (Gleeson 4-25) by seven wickets