Faf Du Plessis’ second ton of the season, followed by Akeal Hosein’s brilliance with the ball ensured the Texas Super Kings delivered a commanding all-round performance to defeat rivals MI New York by 39 runs at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Sunday to secure their spot in the 2025 Cognizant Major League Cricket playoffs.
After the early departure of Smit Patel to left-arm Proteas spinner George Linde, Du Plessis took charge of the innings with a calculated, explosive knock.
The South African skipper raced to a 21-ball half-century, highlighted by a quick onslaught in the Powerplay against MI New York’s attack consisting of Trent Boult, George Linde, and Ehsan Adil.
After Linde accounted for Saiteja Mukkamalla in the 9th over, Du Plessis showed his leadership settling into a captain’s innings blending maturity with flair after he was joined by Marcus Stoinis.
The pair proceeded with caution, rotating the strike and keeping the scorers engaged with odd boundaries here and there.
While Du Plessis gradually started to shift gears, Stoinis struggled to keep pace ultimately losing his wicket to Rushil Ugarkar in the 15th over.
Stoinis’ dismissal brought in the flamboyant Donovan Ferreira, whose thunderous late-innings cameo amplified his captain’s anchoring innings.
Ferreira showed his power-hitting prowess blazing 53 off just 20 balls to equal the fastest fifty in MLC history.
Ferreira and Du Plessis made life tough for MI New York’s bowlers who were unable to stem the tide as Texas surged to a formidable 223/4.
Du Plessis carried his bat through the innings for a dominant 103* off 56 deliveries, his second century of the season and eighth in T20 cricket.
MI New York’s chase stuttered from the outset. Coming off a wonderful evening in the previous game, Nicholas Pooran could not capitalize on his form falling early to Nandre Burger in the 4th over.
Akeal Hosein applied further pressure with a clinical spell of left-arm spin. Hosein had a wonderful day spinning his way to a brilliant 3/15 including the key scalps of Monank Patel and Quinton De Kock to leave MI New York reeling through the middle overs.
For a few moments, Kieron Pollard’s towering sixes triggered a few nerves in the TSK camp when the tall Caribbean powerhouse dispatched TSK’s premier spinner, Noor Ahmed, for 22 runs in the 14th over.
However, despite his best to keep the game alive with a bruising 70 off 39 deliveries, his assault came too late as the asking rate proved too steep.
The pressure took its toll ultimately as Burger and Stoinis returned to claim late wickets restricting MI New York to 184/8 in their 20 overs.
With this win, the Texas Super Kings not only punched their ticket to the playoffs but also continued their stronghold at home, where the energy of a sold-out Grand Prairie crowd seemed to push them up another gear.
Meanwhile, MI New York has a lot to ponder to keep their hopes alive in the competition after a tough day at the field.
As both teams now head to Lauderhill, Florida for the final week of the league stage, Texas Super Kings will take on an in-groove Washington Freedom on Wednesday, July 2, while MI New York will face the Los Angeles Knight Riders on Thursday, July 3 at Broward County Stadium.
Match Summary: Texas Super Kings beat MI New York by 39 runs
TSK: 223/4 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 103*, Donovan Ferreira 53; George Linde 42/2, Rushil Ugarkar 47/2)
MINY: 184/9 in 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 70, Quinton de Kock 35; Akeal Hosein 15/3, Nandre Burger 40/2, Marcus Stoinis 43/2).
Source: Sportsmax
