Shepherd, Bosch and Boult bowl MI NY to victory

Marcus Stoinis did everything. Nearly. He dismissed MI NY's half-centurion Quinton de Kock, finished with figures of 3-14, top-scored in the small chase and, with 14 runs needed off the last over, he hit the first ball for a six. All of this was still not enough for Seattle Orcas to break their pattern of LWLWLWL in MLC 2026 as they suffered a fourth loss in a low-scoring encounter at the Knight Riders Cricket Field in Pomona.

Firstly, about that final over. Kieron Pollard took pace off and Stoinis tried to steer a short ball over the infield. To his utter dismay, he couldn't clear the backward point fielder Romario Shepherd, another West Indian who played a big role in sinking the Orcas (more on that in a bit). Jasdeep Singh, who was instrumental to drag the chase into the final over with his two fours and a six in the 19th over, couldn't connect against Pollard's repeated slower ones and Orcas fell five short. The Orcas probably had no business getting this close in the end after needing 43 off the last three overs when Rushil Ugarkar bowled a double-wicket 13-run over.

Yet, Orcas would probably rue the fact that they could've paced this chase better, after tying down MI NY for 132/8. Stoinis was the protagonist of that effort too. He bowled four overs for just 14 runs and returned three scalps that included de Kock who nearly scored half the runs that MI NY put up. Stoinis, alongwith Jasdeep and Baartman, ensured no partnership lasted for too long. De Kock managed to add 47 with Nicholas Pooran for the second wicket and 35 with Tajinder Dhillon for the third, but once he was taken out, a procession followed.

The Pomona surface once again proved to be a bowlers' ally as MI NY's 132/8 was enough for a thriller that eventually ended with a failed chase. Just like Stoinis, Shepherd made the most of the sluggish conditions, finishing with figures of 3-16. He made crucial incisions in the post-Powerplay period that all but broke the chase until it was revived by Stoinis and Jasdeep to be dragged till the very end. He accounted for the wickets of Tim Seifert, Shehan Jayasuriya and Shimron Hetmyer that saw the Orcas slip to 59/5. His returns complemented two others in his team perfectly to push back against Orcas as Trent Boult and Corbin Bosch struck early - a crucial factor in defending such sub-par totals. The South African in fact, wrapped up his night with scarcely believable figures of 1-11 in four overs.

Orcas kept crashing and burning their way as no partnership exceeded 19 runs, until Stoinis and Jasdeep came together in the 18th over at 95/8. Their effort - 30 off 10 - piqued Orcas' interests in a late heist but they fell agonisingly short to finish with 125/9.

Brief Scores: MI New York 132/8 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 61; Marcus Stoinis 3-14, Ottneil Baartman 2-23, Jasdeep Singh 2-36) beat Seattle Orcas 125/9 in 20 overs (Marcus Stoinis 36; Romario Shepherd 3-16) by 5 runs