DALLAS: Captain Faf du Plessis played a blistering 61-run knock, followed by Marcus Stoinis’s all-round exploits, which helped Texas Super Kings to edge past MI New York in a high-scoring Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024 clash here at Grand Prairie Stadium on Sunday.
While batting first, Du Plessis led from the front, giving his side a fiery start with a 38-ball knock during his opening partnership with Devon Conway.
Nosthush Kenjige claimed the prized scalp of Du Plessis in the ninth over with 85 runs on the board. The Super Kings’ skipper top-scored with 61 runs, laced with four sixes and four boundaries.
Meanwhile, Conway scored 40 off 28 with three fours and one six before he fell prey to Ehsan Adil, leaving the home side with 121-2 in 13.1 overs.
Aaron Hardie played a 17-ball cameo scoring 22, while Stoinis scored an unbeaten 24 off 18 to take the team’s total to 176-6 in their allocated 20 overs.
Trent Boult led the bowling for MI New York with two wickets, while Rashid Khan, Nosthush Kenjige, and Ehsan Adil took one wicket each.
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In response, MI New York had a disastrous start to their campaign as they slipped to 52-5 in 11.2 overs courtesy of Stoinis and Zia-ul-Haq’s fiery bowling.
However, Monank Patel, who was playing an anchor’s role, was joined by Rashid Khan and together they raised 97 runs from 48 balls, attempting to force a comeback.
Both batters attacked Texas Super Kings’ bowlers, especially Naveen-ul-Haq, who gave eight runs in his first two overs but his other two overs went for 38 runs.
However, the required run-rate was too much to achieve as the equation came down to 32 needed off last over. Stoinis dismissed both batters in the last over, helping his side register a 15-run victory.
Patel top-scored with 61 off 45, while Rashid Khan scored a 23-ball 50, which featured four boundaries and five sixes.
Stoinis returned with bowling figures of 4-50, while Zia-ul-Haq claimed 2-15.
Earlier in the day, in another MLC 2024 match, Washington Freedom further solidified their position at the top of the table with a dominant eight-wicket victory over Los Angeles Knight Riders.
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