Pollard, Tajinder lead MI New York to victory over Seattle Orcas

With a 17-run victory in their MLC 2026 match, MI New York ripped Seattle Orcas' hopes of qualifying out of the woodwork.

After 15 overs, Orcas were at 137/1, had 43 balls left to score, and Tim Seifert and Matthew Breetzke had already scored a 100-run partnership. But somehow, they lost five wickets and only hit two boundaries in the final two overs of the chase.

The collapse was started by Kieron Pollard, who rolled a cutter past Breetzke and rattled his stumps. A cheeky "finger-on-brain" celebration was short-lived, as Pollard had to walk off immediately after, having done something to his shoulder.

However, not long after that, he was back in the deep to catch fellow West Indian Shimron Hetmyer, who had tried to challenge Rushil Ugarkar after the 17th over had only one run. This signalled the first sign that the Orcas were not completely in control of the chase, but they still had the explosive Seifert in the middle, racing towards a century. It appeared as though New York had missed a golden opportunity when he was dropped in the 18th over.

However, Seifert was unable to capitalize on it, nicking Romario Shepherd behind in a penultimate over that resulted in only three runs. Shepherd had dispatched Marcus Stoinis with a roaring yorker four balls earlier.

With 22 needed off six, Pollard did the needful and New York somehow prevailed.

New York had been reduced to 73/5 in the 12th over, and it appeared that they would finish below par. The majority of the damage was caused by captain Stoinis, who picked up his first T20 five-wicket haul by carefully operating on the Dallas surface that suited his variable pace and chipping away at New York's batting.

He started by feeling Ryan Rickelton's outside edge, which gave Orcas a head start. Nicholas Pooran's slow tournament was then extended by Ottneil Baartman by slipping one through to his stumps. Shakib Al Hasan, who had only played two games this season, stumbled for 15 minutes before fouling out. Monank Patel was tricked off the surface by Stoinis, who then used a slow cutter to take him out.

Pollard teamed up with No. 7 Tajinder Dhillon to provide a rescue mission for them. They combined for an 80-run stand in just under seven overs to revive New York, hitting seven sixes and 13 fours between them. Dhillon took just 22 balls for his fifty after reading the slower balls well and missing chances in the field in the 17th and 18th overs.

Stoinis came back to pick up Pollard, Shepherd, and Trent Boult in just five balls, but Dhillon made up for some of it with a 20-run final over by hitting Dasun Shanaka. It seemed like bonus runs at the time to give New York a competitive total. In the end, those were all that mattered.

Dhilon deservedly won Player of the Match after hitting a crucial fifty, his first of the season. He dedicated it to his brother, who was also his first coach, who died in January.

Orcas now need to win their final game to make it to the playoffs. New York are now placed pretty at second spot.