Nicholas Pooran's fiery 55-ball 137 powers MI New York to inaugural MLC title: Watch

Nicholas Pooran (Pic: AFP)

Mumbai Indians New York stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran hit a blistering hundred off just 40 balls in the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2023 final against the Seattle Orcas at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Sunday.

During MI's 184-run chase for their inaugural MLC title, Pooran walked in at number three in the first over after opener Steven Taylor fell for a three-ball duck. Taking matters in his own hands, the 27-year-old slammed a 16-ball half-century in no time and continued his batting onslaught with maximums. In the process, he became the second batter to score a hundred in the tournament.

Watch the video below.

Seattle, meanwhile, posted a respectable total of 183 for 9, thanks to Quinton de Kock (87 off 52) taking it upon himself to offset the destructive bowling spells from Rashid Khan (3/9) and Trent Boult (3/34). But Pooran's cameo proved too costly for the side as he hammered them away at a strike rate of 249 per cent. He finished unbeaten on 137 off 55 deliveries, including 13 sixes and 10 fours, to record the second-highest score by a captain batting second in T20s.

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Pooran took over captaincy for the side in the tournament after former West Indies star all-rounder Kieron Pollard sustained an injury.

Pooran's ton is the third-quickest by a West Indian in T20 cricket, behind Chris Gayle's 30-ball hundred for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2013 and Johnson Charles' 39-ball ton for West Indies earlier this year in South Africa. The former Windies captain has amassed nearly 5500 runs in his 277-match T20 career with two tons and 29 half-centuries.