Pooran's 137* powers MI New York to inaugural MLC title
Nicholas Pooran's whirlwind century powered MI New York to the title in the inaugural edition of the Major League Cricket. The southpaw went berserk against Seattle Orcas in the final and scored an unbeaten 137 off just 55 deliveries. His stellar knock was studded with 10 boundaries and as many as 13 sixes. MI won the game by seven wickets. Here are further details.
A knock for ages from Pooran
Chasing 184 at Dallas's Grand Prairie Stadium, MI lost their opener Steven Taylor for a duck. Skipper Pooran arrived at number three and it was one-way traffic since then. He attacked the bowlers from the outset and scored runs all over the park. The likes of Dwaine Pretorius and Wayne Parnell looked clueless against him as MI crossed the line in just 16 overs.
Pooran's knock will not be added to official records
Pooran's knock will not be added to his records as the MLC does not have an official T20 status. The tournament was held in USA, an Associate member nation. Abu Dhabi T10 League, US Masters T10, and Global T20 Canada also fall under this category.
Third-highest score in a T20 final
If official records were considered, Pooran smoked the third-highest score by a batter in the final of a T20 competition. He would have been behind Chris Gayle (146*) and Tamim Iqbal (141*). Notably, Pooran reached his century off just 40 balls. It would have been the fastest ton in a T20 league final had MLC attained T20 status.
Highest run-getter of the tournament
Pooran finished as the run-getter of the tournament with 388 runs in eight games at an average and strike rate of 64.66 and 167.24, respectively. The tally includes two fifties besides a ton. No other batter finished with even 270 runs. His tally of 34 maximums is also the highest for any batter. Heinrich Klaasen (110*) was the only other centurion in the tournament.
Here are his overall records
Coming to Pooran's overall T20 records, he has hammered 5,394 runs in 276 appearances at an average of 25.08. His strike rate reads 143.49. The tally includes 29 fifties and a solitary ton. 1,486 of these runs have come in 75 T20I matches at a strike rate of 130.92. He has hammered nine fifties at the highest level.
