Star-studded MI New York aim for a winning start

After the initial uncertainties and curiosities about a professional league in America, MLC came clean to put up a cricketing spectacle on a frenzied opening night. MI New York and San Francisco Unicorns square off on a very hot Dallas afternoon. A game is never short of stardust when an MI franchise takes the field. MINY, arguably, are the strongest squad on paper in the league in terms of international as well as local domestic talent. MINY were the last team to come into Dallas after an extended stay in Houston, making full use of the practice facilities with most of their international signings coming off a cricketing break after the IPL.

As many as 6 wickets fell collectively in the powerplay in yesterday's opening encounter as the new ball flew off the surface with some zing. Both the teams would hope to make early inroads with their battery of pacers including the likes Trent Boult, Kagiso Rabada, Haris Rauf and Lungi Ngidi. The newly laid wicket is also conducive to stroke making. TSK and LAKR tonked 16 sixes among them. With a slew of power hitters in both the squads, the game may well boil down to a six hitting slug fest, which might eventually dictate the result.

When: MI New York vs San Francisco Unicorns, 3:30 CST

Where: Grand Prairie Stadium, a Dallas suburb

What to expect: The heat index is expected to stay around 45 C. The conditions are expected to be unrelenting throughout the duration of the game. The finger spin of Sunil Narine extracted considerable spin on some occasions yesterday which was then exploited by Mohammad Mohsin's wrist spin. However, expect another high scoring encounter with the pace of the pitch conducive to stroke making in an arena with a straight boundary of 60m and the side boundaries of around 70m

Teams watch:

MI New York

Rashid Khan is yet to arrive for MINY owing to international commitments. However, the team management would be upbeat with the way leg spinner Sarabjit Ladda went about his business in their lone practice game against Washington Freedom. Nicholas Pooran is expected to keep the wickets for the first two games before he departs for his West Indies duty. Dewald Brevis,