Monank Patel, Bracewell Guides MI New York to First Win

MI New York finally got a 'W' against their name in MLC 2025 by the time all teams have played three of their ten league games. MI New York did it in style, although after a slow start in their chase of 201 against Seattle Orcas that gave them some tense moments in the last game played in Oakland this season. They were only 38 for 1 in the powerplay, and Monank Patel, his opening partner, took off to score 93 off 50 balls before all-rounders Kieron Pollard and Michael Bracewell brought them home with one over left. In an effort to get their first win of the season, Orcas chose to bat and changed their lineup and batting order. Kyle Mayers dropped down to No. 4 after bagging a duck in their last game and the move worked as he walked out when Orcas were 30 for 2 towards the end of the powerplay once captain David Warner and Aaron Jones fell cheaply. Mayers and Shayan Jahangir then struck a six every over for five overs in a row while Mayers also got a life when Tajinder Singh dropped a sitter on the off side. The third-wicket stand of 77 off 49 balls that took them past 100 in the 14th over was ended when Jahangir hit 43 off 34 balls. Mayers then lifted the run rate over eight an over with two sixes and a four off Naveen-ul-Haq in the 15th over that went for 18 and saw his half-century come off 31 balls. Mayers smoked a lot of his boundaries on the leg side and relied heavily on his back-foot strokes to muscle the ball away. He launched four more sixes in Naveen's next over - three of them over long-on - before Trent Boult removed Mayers in the 19th over that went for just eight runs. But there was no respite for Naveen; he got the last over which saw Shimron Hetmyer smack two fours and two sixes before holing out on the last ball. Captain Heinrich Klaasen also chipped in with three sixes in his 27 off 11 as Orcas pummeled 120 runs in the last eight overs. MINY were also hardly looking great in the powerplay with edges and appeals before Quinton de Kock flicked a six in the third over off Obed McCoy. But when Sikandar Raza came on, he was trapped lbw, and Monank hit his USA teammate Jasdeep Singh for six and four in the next over. Monank continued to pepper the boundaries while Bracewell moved along at run a ball to play second fiddle. Even though the strategy didn't exactly work out that way, runs did flow more easily as the chase progressed, and MINY promoted Bracewell rather than Pooran because they expected the second half of the innings to be better for batting. With 90 required from 48, Raza's quick offbreaks produced three fours in the 13th over, not long before Klaasen struck Bracewell. But Cameron Gannon held on to one to send Monank back for 93 when they needed 57 off the last five. Pooran only scored one run from his first four deliveries before hitting a six, which caused him to lose his stumps and Raza to celebrate wildly. With 49 off 22 required, Pollard was ready to start, scoring two fours in his first three balls to signal his arrival. Bracewell collected two fours and a six off Mayers next over that went for 19 and with 21 to get off 12, Pollard and Bracewell finished things off in the 19th over off McCoy. As many as four Orcas bowlers went for over 10 runs an over while Bracewell remained unbeaten on 50 off 35 and Pollard on 26 off 10.