Clinical MI New York put LA Knight Riders on the brink

MI New York put up a clinical show with both bat and ball to register a much-needed victory that has kept them alive in the race for the final playoff spot in MLC 2025. The result has now put LA Knight Riders on the brink of elimination as they now need something remarkable to even stay in contention until their final match.

MINY had no hesitation to bowl first following a delayed start and with the surface under covers going into the game. Trent Boult took full toll of the conditions to strike thrice in the powerplay that put LAKR under the pump immediately. Unmukt Chand was castled first ball by an inswinger from Boult and even though Andre Russell walked out at No.3 yet again to smash a few boundaries, Boult accounted for his wicket as well with the ball staying low to rattle the stumps. It was then Andre Fletcher's turn to lose his stumps to Boult as MINY made an electrifying start in this must-win clash.

From thereon, it was literally a battle between Sherfane Rutherford and MINY. Saif Badar stuttered and made 7 off 16, Rovman Powell made 5 off 9 and Jason Holder could only muster 4 from the 6 balls he faced. But around such misery, LAKR found a saviour in the form of Rutherford who looked like someone batting on a completely different surface. Rutherford kept finding the boundary regularly and brought up a fifty in stunning fashion off just 22 balls. He was then dismissed off the first ball of the penultimate over as Boult returned to pick up his fourth wicket. Rutherford departing with almost two overs left certainly made an impact as LAKR limped their way to a moderate 154/8.

Sunil Narine, who had returned to the XI for this fixture, did strike early by getting rid of Quinton de Kock in the powerplay. MINY made a watchful start as they made only 39 in the powerplay before Monank and Pooran slowly started finding the boundary to push the scoring rate. LAKR missed a great chance to send Pooran back to the pavilion when he was on 15 as he had nicked one behind but no one from the fielding side appealed. With that opportunity squandered, LAKR had no way back.

Monank was the aggressor initially as he kept the boundaries coming with Pooran playing second fiddle. Pooran needed a six off a free-hit to break the shackles and that certainly freed him up with the skipper starting to find his groove. Both batters brought up their respective half-centuries as the writing was on the wall for LAKR. Russell finally ended the century stand but Kieron Pollard ensured there were no hiccups as he smacked back-to-back sixes to put down LAKR for good. These two teams will clash against each other again in less than 48 hours. In case Seattle Orcas win their next game before this clash, then LAKR's elimination will be confirmed even before they step onto the field.

Brief scores: LA Knight Riders 154/8 in 20 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 86; Trent Boult 4/17, Kieron Pollard 2/15) lost to MI New York 155/2 in 17.5 overs (Nicholas Pooran 62*, Monank Patel 56) by 8 wickets