Nicholas Pooran belted a magnificent 40-ball, unbeaten hundred as Mumbai Indians New York chased down 184 to beat Seattle Orcas by seven wickets and clinch the inaugural Major League Cricket title at the Grand Prairie Stadium.
Playing in the final, the former West Indies white-ball captain finished on 137 not out off 55 deliveries, notching his second Twenty20 career hundred to be awarded Man-of-the-Match.
The chase started poorly when Steven Taylor perished to the third ball of the innings without a run on the board but captain Pooran arrived at number three to lash 10 fours and 13 astonishing sixes and took MI New York over the line with four overs to spare.
“It’s very, very special. Congratulations and kudos must go to the guys on the cricket field,” said Kieron Pollard, who captained the side in the group stages but missed the knockout phase.
“They took the team from the eliminator straight to the final and the way that we actually won the game today, I couldn’t be prouder of the guys.”
Sent in, Orcas were propelled to a competitive 183 for nine off their 20 overs, with a brilliant 87 off 52 balls by South African opener Quinton de Kock.
The left-hander struck nine fours and four sixes, posting 41 for the second wicket with Shehan Jayasuriya (16) and 51 for the fourth wicket with Shubham Ranjane who hit a 16-ball 29 with five fours.
When de Kock fell at the start of the 17th over, his departure triggered a slide which saw six wickets tumble for 41 runs, leg-spinner Rashid Khan (3-9) and left-arm seamer Trent Boult (3-34) claiming three wickets apiece.
Orcas then struck a key blow in the first over when Taylor missed a swing at left-arm spinner Imad Wasim and was bowled without scoring.
However, Pooran took the game away from them with a breathtaking knock.The 27-year-old, posted 62 for the second wicket with Shayan Jahangir (10), 75 for the third wicket with Dewald Brevis (20) and 47 in an unbroken fourth wicket partnership with Tim David (10 not out).
Pooran raced to his 50 off just 16 balls in the fourth over, smacking three fours and half-dozen sixes, and required only another 24 deliveries to reach triple figures in the 12th over.
With 33 runs required from 36 balls after the 14th over, Pooran blasted a four and three sixes off left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh in the 15th over which gushed 24 runs, as the end came quickly.
