Mumbai Indians New York defeated Seattle Orcas in the inaugural Major League Cricket (MLC) final on July 30, 2023, in Dallas' Grand Prairie Stadium to win the championship in an exciting contest. It was a display of cricketing skill and tactical play. Nicholas Pooran stole the show as MI New York won the inaugural Major League Cricket Championship with a crushing seven-wicket victory over Seattle Orcas. Pooran hit multiple boundaries in form of 13 sixes and 10 fours to record the second-highest score by a captain batting second in T20s.
A big part of MI New York's triumph can be ascribed to Nicholas Pooran who, replacing injured captain Kieron Pollard, displayed great leadership. Pooran put on a remarkable batting performance, scoring an astounding unbeaten 137 runs off just 55 balls. He started his innings right in form, scoring a half-century off just 16 balls. Pooran persisted in his assault, hitting soaring maximums to become the second batter in the competition to achieve a ton.
“Chatting today we spoke about creating history. We lost our captain, and a couple of players. At the end of the day I am proud as everyone contributed,” exclaimed Pooran after the victory. “We knew it was a good batting wicket, we were prepared for this moment from a week ago. We had to be confident and believe in each other. We got over the line today, we were been put under pressure earlier this week. ‘You are going to bat like Nicky P’, I told myself, and backed my skill.”
As soon as MI NY appeared to be in trouble after losing Steven Taylor in the first over, Pooran intervened and took the game by the scruff of the neck.
The MI franchise has had a fantastic year as they were also named the first-ever champions of the Women's Premier League.