Hope we can attract new fans to cricket: Seattle Orcas' Co-Owner Satya

DALLAS (Texas): The inaugural edition of Major League Cricket came to a blistering end on Sunday as Nicholas Pooran's magnificent century helped MI New York take down Seattle Orcas by seven wickets in the grand finale at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas.

Satya Nadella, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft and Co-Owner of the Seattle Orcas, may have been on the wrong side of the result on the final night of the competition, but he hopes to see MLC attract new cricket fans in the US, "Sport unites people and it breaks down walls. The US is the sports market of the world. It's fantastic to see cricket come here. I hope we can attract a lot of new fans to the game."

When asked about his experience of bowling the first delivery of the Final, Nadella said, "I am glad I had the chance to deliver the opening ball. The ball actually spun and it was on the middle stump. I am thrilled about it." The Chairman and CEO of Microsoft also spoke about his fandom for cricket, "The first-ever cricket game I watched was a Ranji Trophy match between Bombay and Hyderabad. I am a big Indian cricket team fan and I am a fan of whoever has been helping us win over the years." The inaugural edition of Major League Cricket was played between July 13 to July 30, 2023.

Nicholas Pooran scored 137 runs off 55 balls as MI New York took down Seattle Orcas by seven wickets at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas in the final of MLC. MI New York restricted Seattle Orcas to 183/9 before chasing down their target in just 16 overs. MI New York didn't get off to the best of starts as Imad Wasim dismissed Steven Taylor in their third delivery of the opening over.

However, Pooran made his intentions quite clear for the night when he struck consecutive sixes off Wasim's bowling in the same over. The West Indian showcased tremendous form as he hit Dwaine Pretorius for three sixes and two boundaries in the third over. Opening batter Shayan Jahangir fell to Wayne Parnell in the fifth over, but Pooran continued to find maximums at the other end. He struck three sixes off Andrew Tye's bowling to take MI New York's score to 80/2 in just 6 overs.

Pooran kept finding the middle of his bat and smashed a total of 10 fours and 13 sixes during his innings. The Captain remained unbeaten on 137 runs off 55 balls and single-handedly took MI New York over the line with 4 overs to spare.

Earlier in the day, MI New York won the toss and put Seattle Orcas into bat. Quinton de Kock looked in prime touch as he struck Jessy Singh for consecutive boundaries in the second over. However, Rashid Khan sent De Kock's opening partner Nauman Anwar packing for 9 runs off 13 balls in the fifth over.

Thereafter, Shehan Jayasuriya provided excellent support to De Kock as he hit David Wiese for a four and six in the seventh over. But Steven Taylor bowled him out for 16 runs off 15 balls in the tenth over. Following Heinrich Klaasen's early departure, De Kock and Shubham Ranjane put up a fantastic partnership of 51 runs from 24 balls to take Orcas' score to 142/4 in 16.1 overs.

Thereafter, the Orcas kept losing wickets at regular intervals, but Dwaine Pretorius' cameo of 21 runs from 7 balls helped his team post a formidable total on the board.