Monank, Bracewell help MI New York open account

Monank Patel and Michael Bracewell combined to give MI New York their first win in MLC 2025 that extended Seattle Orcas' winless run to eight games. Orcas put themselves in a good position when Kyle Mayers hammered 10 sixes in his 46-ball 88 which was then backed up by a powerful finish from Heinrich Klaasen and Shimron Hetmyer. However, the target of 201 was eventually overhauled with an over to spare with Bracewell remaining unbeaten in the chase.

MINY didn't get off to the greatest of starts with Monank struggling in the powerplay. Only 25 runs came in the first overs of a tall chase and to make matters worse, Sikandar Raza came into the attack and struck immediately to get rid of Quinton de Kock. Monank, batting on 4 off 12 at that point, finally broke free with a four and a six to round off the powerplay and those boundaries certainly flicked a switch.

The wicketkeeper-batter then kept dealing in boundaries in the middle overs to make up for his slow start as Bracewell played second fiddle. Monank hit two sixes and a four off Harmeet Singh who endured a torrid outing. Boundaries galored as Monank now toyed with the Orcas bowling attack, scooping Mayers for a six and then following it up with three fours in an over bowled by Raza. While he went into the 90s with another scoop that went over the ropes, a lot of work was still left to be done due to Bracewell's scratchy innings at the other end.

Orcas suddenly found an opening when Monank's blistering innings came to an end when he was on 93. With 55 needed off 24, Nicholas Pooran was castled by Raza to further dent MINY. Kieron Pollard then calmed the nerves with a couple of boundaries to bring the equation down to 40 off 18 before Bracewell finally took charge with consecutive sixes. Harmeet's blemishes on the field of successive deliveries aided the batting side further as Bracewell and Pollard took full toll to make a mockery of the chase in the end.

Earlier in the evening, Orcas got off to a poor start as well with Bracewell making an impact with the ball in the powerplay, including a wicket-maiden. David Warner's early departure saw them reeling at 9/1 after 3 overs and Naveen-ul-Haq struck in the final over of the powerplay to dent them further. At that point, a six each was hit in the next five overs to give the run rate a much-needed boost.

A massive second half was still needed though in order to make up for that poor start. Mayers gave them just that as he absolutely laid into the MINY bowling attack. If the first six overs saw them score only 31 runs, the final six saw them score three times more as Mayers ruined Naveen's figures with four sixes in an over. Even after his six-fest came to an end, Orcas' push towards 200 was aided by Klaasen and Hetmyer who combined to score 48 off just 20 for that powerful finish. Yet, that powerplay came back to haunt them in the end.

Brief scores: Seattle Orcas 200/5 in 20 overs (Kyle Mayers 88, Shayan Jahangir 43) lost to MI New York 203/3 in 19 overs (Monank Patel 93, Michael Bracewell 50*; Sikandar Raza 2/37) by 7 wickets