MLC 2023 Points Table: Updated standings after MI New York vs Los Angeles Knight Riders match, Match 6
The fourth day of the 2023 MLC edition featured a doubleheader clash between Washington Freedom & Texas Super Kings and MI New York & Los Angeles Knight Riders respectively. Both games were played at the same venue in Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Dallas on July 17.
The game between Washington Freedom & Texas Super Kings went down the wire as Washington manage to survive the brutal onslaught of DJ Bravo. Matthew Short’s dazzling knock of 80(50) lifted Washington to a par score of 163. Texas Super Kings made a horrible start with the bat losing too many wickets in clusters. DJ Bravo played a heroic innings in the end but that was not enough as they lost the game by six runs.
The second game of the day ended up in a rather one-sided affair between MI New York & Los Angeles Knight Riders. Tim David the hero, saved the day for MI New York as he scored a swashbuckling 48 (21) to take his side to a defendable total.
Los Angeles Knight Riders put up a disastrous show with the bat and lost too many wickets in heap which dismantled their momentum. As a result, they suffered a heavy defeat of 105 runs.
Following the conclusion of day four, Washington have marginally bettered their NRR to -0.014 with an impressive win. They have now moved to the fourth spot in the points table. Texas Super Kings faced their first defeat of the season and have slipped to the third position with a NRR of 1.575.
MI New York registered a landslide victory today and have surged to the number two position in the points table. They have significantly improved their NRR after today’s win which is at an impressive high of 2.075. Los Angeles Knight Riders had a demoralizing outing today and suffered their second defeat of their tournament. They are rock bottom in the points table with a shambolic NRR of - 4.350.
Texas Super Kings go down to Washington in a nail-biting thriller
After electing to bat first, Washington got off to a rollicking start in the first few overs. But they have immediately jolted afterward as Gous departed early while Mukhtar Ahmed struggled at the crease but added 44 for the 2nd wicket with Matt Short. Freedom lost two wickets in quick time and were 3 down for 95.
Henriques and Short stitched a match-reviving 40-run stand for the fourth wicket but did not get the desired finish. Matt Short with 80 off 50 almost got the bulk of runs but the rest of the batting struggled and they crawled past the 160-run mark.
Some tight death bowling toward the death by Gerald Coetzee and Dwayne Bravo restricted Washington Freedom to 163-5. Coetzee was the pick of the Super Kings bowlers with two for 26 in his spell. Santner, Bravo, and Mohsin picked a wicket each and completed a professional effort with the ball.
Chasing 164 for the win, Super Kings got off to a horrific start and were reduced to 50 for 5 in the 9th over. Santner and Bravo did the rebuilding before Santner departed for 22 in the 14th over. Bravo (76* off 39) took the mantle in his own hands and smashed the Freedom bowlers all across the park.
Akeal Hosein and Marco Jansen picked up two each for Freedom while Henriques, Netravalkar, and Piedt snapped a wicket each. Freedom were in control for the most part of the game but would have got nervous seeing the late assault from Bravo. Bravo gave Washington a big scare by going ballistic in the death overs. Unfortunately, Texas Super Kings didn’t have enough legs to go over the line and lost the game by 6 runs.
All-round heroics from MI New York sink the Knight Riders for a whopping 105 runs
MINY endured a topsy-turvy ride during the first half of the game. They will certainly have mixed feelings about their performance with the bat. Brevis and Jahangir got MINY off to a flyer in the first couple of overs. But then wickets started tumbling and boundaries dried up during the middle overs.
Los Angeles made an explosive start with the ball despite conceding a flurry of boundaries in the first over. After the fall of the first wicket, LATK were able to put the brakes on the scoring rate. The bowlers kept chipping away with wickets at regular intervals. Ali Khan and Dry got into the act to make early inroads into the MINY batting lineup. By the 12-over mark, New York had already lost half their side with the big man Pollard back into the hut.
They would be disappointed for not being able to stitch a healthy partnership during the middle phase of the innings. But Kudos to Tim David who helped MINY finish on a high. He scored a rapid 48 (21) to lift his side to a face-saving total of 155. His innings featured 4 fours and 4 sixes. He was well supported by Pooran at the other end who scored 38 (37) almost at a runner-ball.
Ali Khan, Corne Dry, and Adam Zampa were impressive sharing 6 wickets with them at a robust economy rate of just around 6 RPO. Sunil Narine went wicketless but kept the scoring rate under check going at 3.75 RPO. Despite their reasonable bowling efforts, the Knight Riders conceded way too many runs at the backend of the innings.
The batting card for Los Angeles Knight Riders was in absolute shambles. Apart from Ummukut Chand, none of the batters were able to register a double-digit score. Unmukt Chand tries to hold the innings together with a run-a-ball 26. But that was not enough as New York bowlers steamrolled them effortlessly.
Five MINY bowlers were used, and all of them produced two wickets each. They were right on the money and did not allow Knight Riders to tee off. Ehsan Adil and Nosthush Kenjige turned out to be very economical going at 2.33 RPO. MINY eventually derailed the Knight Riders for just 50 and registered a sizeable gain in their net run rate.