The win consolidated the Super Kings’ position at number two on the table with six points from five matches. Washington Freedom are currently on top with seven points from four matches.New York are third with three points from four games.
Defending their compeitive total of 176 for 6, TSK reduced the opposition to 52 for 5, but couldn’t quite wrap up the innings, facing a minor scare in the later stages of the match.
MINY might have felt that they had restricted the opposition to a manageable total. However, their batting performance faltered dramatically within the Powerplay, ultimately leading to their downfall.
TSK’s left-arm pacer Zia-ul-Haq’s (2 for 15) exceptional bowling at the top yielded a couple of wickets; and Marcus Stoinis, although expensive, played a vital role by picking up four wickets (4 for 50) to hurt the New York team.
Monank Patel (61 off 45 balls) attempted to inject some momentum into the MINY innings, and his efforts kept his team’s faint hopes alive. Then it was Rashid Khan who nearly single-handedly brought MI New York back into the game with a brilliant 50 off just 23 balls, including 5 sixes and 4 fours, before being dismissed towards the end of the chase by Stoinis.
Dwayne Bravo’s eight-run penultimate virtually sealed the deal for the Super Kings as it left MINY requiring 32 runs to win in the final over.
Earlier in the match, New York captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and opted to field first, hoping that the fresh wicket would make chasing slightly easier. The decision, however, backfired as Faf du Plessis launched an all-out assault, smashing the ball to all parts of the ground.
The former South Africa captain smashed 4 fours and as many sixes in his 38-ball 61 and added 85 runs for the first wicket with Devon Conway (40 off 28 balls) to lay the foundation.
MINY tnen managed to strike some late blows that checked the Super Kings’ scoring rate towards the end of their innings. Boult took two wickets for MINY but was expensive, giving away 48 runs in his four overs. Rashid, Nosthush Kenjige and Ehsan Adil took one wicket each.
