MI New York all-rounder Kieron Pollard hailed teammate Nicholas Pooran’s match-winning century in the final of the 2023 Major League Cricket on Monday, July 31 at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas.
Nicholas Pooran smashed an unbeaten 55-ball 137 as the Mumbai Indians New York beat the Seattle Orcas by seven wickets to win the inaugural edition of Major League Cricket on Monday morning (IST). Needing 184 to win, MI got over the line with 24 balls to spare.
Pooran smacked 13 sixes and 10 fours during his spellbinding knock and finished as the leading run-scorer of the tournament. He also recorded the fastest half-century of the season (16 balls) during the knock.
Pooran was leading the side in the absence of Kieron Pollard, who was out injured.
“Chatting today we spoke about creating history. We lost our captain, and a couple of players. At the end of the day I am proud as everyone contributed,” Pooran said after the win.
“We knew it was a good batting wicket, we were prepared for this moment from a week ago. We had to be confident and believe in each other. We got over the line today, we were been put under pressure earlier this week. ‘You are going to bat like Nicky P’, I told myself, and backed my skill.” he added
Praising Nicholas Pooran’s performance, Kieron Pollard took to Twitter to share a message. He hailed the knock and expressed that he wants to see Pooran excel further. However, the fans were also puzzled by the message, as Pollard suggested that Pooran might have missed the final. He wrote,
“Special , special , special 🔥🔥🔥🔥. You deserve all the accolades that come with tonight’s match 🏏🏏🙏🏾🙏🏾. @nicholaspooran . Very proud and happy to sit back and watch you continue to excel. More to come , the behind the scene work you continue to reap the rewards . Continue to rise above 🏆🏆🔥🔥. #justsmile at the egotistical individuals and let your bat do the talking. #imagine the world was almost robbed of this knock today 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾”
Nicholas Pooran is a talent: Kieron Pollard
MI New York skipper Kieron Pollard also spoke about Nicholas Pooran’s performance at the post-match presentation after the win in the final of the 2023 Major League Cricket. He expressed that it was a special knock, and he would love to see Pooran play for the West Indies in the International arena. Pollard said,
“Very special, this is something that’s been brewing for some time. Sometimes it hurts me not to see him much in the international arena. He’s a talent and he’s someone that we need in the Caribbean. Congratulations to him, congratulations to the team, the support staff and the entire MI family. It’s about belief, and the ‘never say die’ attitude that we have. We believe in our players and that augurs well for us.”