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Sports correspondent & historian with |
It is no surprise to see Western Bay of Plenty sportsmen and women surface in worldwide top level sporting events.
However many local sports fans, would be bowled over with the success of two Western Bay sportsmen in the inaugural Major League Cricket T20 shootout in the USA.
New Zealand cricket superstar, Trent Boult, and well credentialed cricket coach James Pamment, played a pivotal role in MI New York taking out championship honours in the MLC 2023 title decider on Monday.
Cricket in the USA has failed to gain any traction until the emergence of the MLC appearance in 2023, The American sporting public find the game boring, the rules incomprehensible, and attendance at match's too time consuming.
The success of the Indian Premier League, saw MLC franchise owners with connections to the IPL, seek out the large Asian and Caribbean communities in the USA, as their MLC target audiences.
The geographic spread of teams saw the LA Knight Riders, San Francisco Unicorns and the Seattle Orcas on the West Coast, MI New York and Washington Freedom on the East Coast, along with the Texas Super Kings.
There was a strong Kiwi presence in the playing ranks, with MI New York, owned by the Mumbai Indians franchise, signing Trent Boult. Former Western Bay resident Corey Anderson turned out for San Francisco, with Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptil, Mitchell Santner, Devon Conway and Glen Phillips also securing MLC contracts.
MI New York scrambled into the playoffs after posting just two preliminary victories, to finish fourth equal, grabbing their playoff spot courtesy of a superior run rate.
First up in the sudden-death playoffs, New York squared off with the Washington Freedom, with New York being asked to bat first.
New York were restricted to what looked to be a modest 141/7. Enter Trent Boult who ripped through the Washington reply, taking four wickets for 20 runs, as the opposition were limited to 125/9.
A place in the MLC title decider awaited the winner of the New York versus Texas Super Kings match. Boult grabbed another four wicket bag as Texas were bowled out for 158. New York got home with six wickets to spare.
The Seattle Orcas batted first in the MLC Final, and posted a formable target in reaching 183 for the loss of nine wickets. Trent Boult was again in fine form taking three wickets for 34 runs.
West Indies batter, Nicholas Pooran, simply took the game away from the MLC top qualifiers, belting 137 off only 55 balls. Batting at three, Pooran came to the crease after just three balls of the New York reply.
Cricket fans in the ground were under attack, as the New York batsman blasted a remarkable thirteen 6's and ten boundaries in his whirlwind innings. MI New York took out the inaugural USA Major League Cricket title, for the loss of just three wickets, with 24 balls to spare.
A major factor in the New York triumph was the fielding skills of the side under the tutorship of James Pamment. The Western Bay cricket coach, has risen through the NZC coaching pathway with stints with Bay of Plenty, Northern Districts and New Zealand sides, before being signed by the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
Trent Boult made an indelible impression in the first MCL Championship, removing 22 batsmen to finish as the top wicket taker, eleven ahead of his nearest rival.
A crystal ball is needed to see if Major League Cricket has a sustainable future in the USA or that it becomes just a one-hit wonder.
