Boult the hero as MINY beat the Unicorns in low-scoring thriller as his back to back sixes took New York home.
Trent Boult the hero as MINY edge past the San Fransisco Unicorns in a low-scoring thriller.
MI Before inaugural champions MINY defeated last year’s runners-up Unicorns by two wickets, the New York and San Francisco Unicorns had an endlessly winding ride in Dallas. Trent Boult shone out with his returns of 2 for 19 and, more importantly, the back-to-back sixes towards the conclusion of the frantic pursuit of 132, which took MINY to victory and to Qualifier 2, eliminating Unicorns in a game that featured numerous little but significant contributions from a variety of players.
To determine who will play the Washington Freedom in the MLC 2025 final, MINY will now take on the Texas Super Kings.
When they were restricted to 16 for 5 in the powerplay, they were already falling behind in the game. The turning point was when No. 8 Xavier Bartlett scored a 24-ball 44 to lead them to a solid 131.
Prior to Matthew Short’s three strikes initiating their decline and Hassan Khan’s two double-wicket overs contributing to the Unicorns’ comeback, MINY was dominating their chase with an opening stand of 43. MINY had just two wickets remaining and needed 24 runs to get off 19 balls.
When Boult hit two sixes against Hassan, the equation changed to a five-run victory from nine balls, which was the last twist. After then, MINY did not falter.
With Boult and Nosthush Kenjige eliminating Unicorns’ top four for single-digit scores, MINY made the most of their choice to bowl. Kenjige had Short and Sanjay Krishnamurthi out caught, while Boult had Tim Seifert and Jake Fraser-McGurk trailing. Boult ran backwards from short third and finished with a juggle, and a fine running catch gave him the final wicket.
When Hassan Khan got into a mix-up with Cooper Connolly and missed a straight hit from Nicholas Pooran while riding a golden duck, the unicorns’ troubles were made worse.
After that, Bartlett reconstructed the innings by hitting huge sixes down the ground in partnerships with Brody Couch and Hammad Azam. In the 18th over, he smacked a sluggish and short delivery from Kieron Pollard straight to midwicket, bringing Unicorns from 50 to 100 in just four overs after the halfway point. Following Bartlett’s wicket, Rushil Ugarkar took out Liam Plunkett and Couch, finishing with 3 for 19.