Major League Cricket: Pooran hits 55-ball 137 as MI New York beat Seattle Orcas to become inaugural champions

West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran smashed an unbeaten 55-ball 137 as MI New York beat Seattle Orcas in the final of the maiden Major League Cricket (MLC) tournament. The hard-hitting West Indian, who was also leading the side, ensured that there are no more glitches after the early first wicket as they chased down a target of 184 runs in 16 years.

Apart from Pooran, Dewald Brevis and Tim David also chipped in with 20 and 10 runs, respectively, as New York became the winner. The Mumbai Indians-owned side had also bowled well after winning the toss but Seattle's Quinton de Kock scored a brilliant 87 off 52 to take his side to a respectable total in 20 overs.

Batting first after losing the toss, Seattle lost the first wicket on 25 runs inside the powerplay. The Orcas continued to have decent partnerships throughout but could not convert any one of them to a big one as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. De Kock, however, stood the ground at one end.

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Apart from De Kock, Shubham Ranjane (29), Dwaine Pretorius (21) and Shehan Jayasuriya (16) were the other notable performances. For MINY, New Zealander Trent Boult and Afghan Rashid Khan took three wickets each with Khan giving away just nine runs in his four overs.

As for the tournament, Pooran emerged as the top scorer with 388 runs in eight innings at an average of 64.66 to with a strike rate of 167. Seattle's Quinton de Kock was second on the list with 264 runs in seven games at an average of 44 and strike rate of 151.

Among the bowlers, MINY's Trent Boult took the honours of most wicket-taker home with a whopping 22 scalps in eight games. He took a four-wicket haul three times in those eight games. The second best after Boult was USA's Cameron Gannon who played for Seattle and took 11 wickets in seven games.

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