Monank Patel's night of emotion and elegance

It was all a bit emotional. Monank Patel confides that his eyes grew damp enroute to his career-defining innings of 93 off 50 deliveries against the Seattle Orcas. Even Heinrich Klaasen, the world's top-ranked white-ball batter and captain of the Orcas, was moved enough to confide in MI New York coach Mark Boucher that it was one of the finest innings he has ever seen in a chase.

By all accounts, Monank brought all his experience into play on an up and down wicket. He was tactically quite clinical in mapping out what shots he needed to play against what bowler. But it may come across as a touch generous from Klaasen given the game had little on the line and the absence of superstar quotient in the Orcas attack.

But Klaasen is allowed to be emotional in his judgment. So did the kid with the hand painted 'Monank I love you' banner in the stands and the rest of the American cricket fraternity after one of their own had stolen the show amidst the presence of greats of the T20 game like Quinton de Kock, Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard. His innings tally wasn't just the highest by a domestic batter in terms of runs. It was also the classiest knock produced by a domestic player in MLC's brief history. It was made all the more significant by the fact that domestic batting has long been the league's Achilles' heel.

"This innings doesn't surprise me. Monank is a fantastic player," Boucher said. "That's why he plays for the US as well. Have been watching him in the nets and haven't been with him for a long period of time. His innings against TSK showed me he knows how to score runs. He struggled upfront in the first game but he stuck it out and ended up scoring 50 in 30 odd balls which is exactly where you want to be as a top order batter. Today when he came in conditions were tough in the power play especially in the second innings. He stuck to the plan and really expressed himself after that and played some fantastic cricket shots all over the park."

Much like in the game against TSK, Monank resisted the urge of trying hard to get off the blocks quickly in a tall chase. He showed due respect to the conditions - the up and down nature of the wicket with the new ball. Notably, 12 wickets had fallen in the second innings over the past three days during 18 overs of powerplay. The crawl to 4 off 12, was a calm prelude to the storm. The fireworks began with the showstopper. Standing upright to imperiously club a length ball on middle leg off Jasdeep Singh with a straight bat, that soared over the midwicket fence. "I liked the cover drive as well that followed it but that was a special shot for me" Monank said.

With a game so commanding down the ground, Monank has rarely resorted to cheeky alternatives behind square. But this game was different. He unfurled the lap shot against Jasdeep and Obed McCoy that traveled the distance. It wasn't just the Midas touch he summoned, evident in the audacious lap shots, that had him motoring in style. It was his astute reading of the conditions, sharp awareness of the bowlers, and tailored shot selection that emboldened him to explore the real estate behind his back with calculated risk.

"When the bowler keeps bowling hard length after the power play and the pitch keeps up and down from length, I played that shot only to bowlers with height of 6 ft or above," Monank explained. "The ball was extracting variable bounce from tall bowlers. When I was being tested with bouncers, Boucher asked me why I was challenging the speed of the ball and looking to slap them in front of the wicket when the bounce becomes a tad unpredictable in the second innings. He asked me to use the bowlers' pace when you don't trust the wicket truly."

Such was Monank's dominance in the chase that, at one point, he had blazed his way to 86 while Michael Bracewell played second fiddle with a contribution of 26 to the partnership. The USA captain was all praise for the Kiwi, with whom he now relishes the chance to mount run chases. Their partnership has already yielded close to 300 runs across three games: an 80-odd stand in a practice fixture, a crucial 97-run stand against Texas Super Kings and a match-winning 119-run effort against the Orcas. Which may have also prompted Bracewell's promotion ahead of Pooran.

"Bracewell is amazing. Behind the scenes hero," Monank opined. "He knows what he needs to tell me, that is going to help me. He kept telling me to watch the ball hard, watch the ball hard. That takes you in the zone. That won't make you see the scoreboard too. Such a zone that you keep two shots ready for every delivery. That keeps you away from getting a single negative thought. Your mind never takes over you. Even if I miss he will come and praise me and finally he will say watch the ball hard every time. Reminds of my partnerships with Rashid last year."

The American captain capped off a magical final night of the season at the Coliseum Stadium. But not before voicing his public desire to one day don the red and blue of USA at the iconic venue. Monank's love affair with the Coliseum awaits the USA chapter and perhaps a chance to stir those emotions again.