Major League Cricket 2023: MI New York beat the Seattle Orcas by seven wickets to win the inaugural edition

MI New York's stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran hit a brilliant 40-ball century in the final of the US franchise cricket Major League Cricket 2023 (MLC 2023) against the Seattle Orcas at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Sunday to win the inaugural edition. He scored an unbeaten 137 off 55 balls with 10 fours and 13 sixes.

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After being asked to bat first, Seattle Orcas struggled to post 183/9 with Quinton de Kock top-scoring with 87 runs from 52 balls. The likes of Shehan Jayasuriya (16), Shubham Ranjane (29), and Pretorius (21) produced double-digit efforts. Trent Boult (3/34) and Rashid Khan (3/9) were the pick of the bowlers to keep the Seattle Orcas guessing.

INAUGURAL MLC CHAMPIONS! 🏆



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— MI New York (@MINYCricket) July 31, 2023

Meanwhile, chasing a target of 184 for Major League Cricket 2023 title, Nicholas Pooran came out to bat in the very first over after opener Steven Taylor was dismissed for a three-ball duck. Pooran immediately started hitting the bowlers. He scored a half-century in 16 balls and did not allow the Seattle Orcas to return. Pooran became the second batsman to score a century in the Major League Cricket 2023 tournament.

Nicholas Pooran remained unbeaten on 137 runs in 55 balls with the help of 13 sixes and 10 fours. He played the second-highest innings as a captain while batting in the second innings in T20 at a strike rate of 249.09. The 27-year-old took over the responsibility of leading the team in the Major League Cricket 2023 tournament after Kieron Pollard was injured.

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Moreover, Nicholas Pooran scored the third fastest century as a West Indies player. In IPL 2013 (IPL 2013), Chris Gayle scored a century in 30 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Earlier this year, Johnson Charles scored a 39-ball century for the West Indies in South Africa. Former West Indies captain Pooran has scored nearly 5500 runs in his 277-match T20 career. He hit 2 centuries and 29 half-centuries.

Pooran scored the most runs in the first season of Major League Cricket 2023 with 388 runs. While Trent Boult of MI New York took maximum 22 wickets. Pooran played the biggest innings in the final. Saurabh Netrawalkar cast the best spell. In addition, Pooran rightfully bagged the Player of the Match award and the captain was elated over his team's maiden title win.