11:35pm That will be all from us for this game. We will be back tomorrow as the San Francisco Unicorns take on the Washington Freedom, with the winner directly entering the final. Do join us for that too, and until then, this is goodbye from Binoy, me and everyone else at ESPNcricinfo!
Faf du Plessis, Texas Super Kings captain: It was real good intent through the powerplay. If you do that, you can put bowlers under pressure. In chases, I feel it is really important to not start slow and showing that intent. (On what makes Conway special alongside him) It is the balance of someone playing on merit, looking at the situation of the game. I try being the aggressor. Sometimes, batting partnerships work like that. On another day, he can take it (the role of aggressor) up and I can play second fiddle. He (Conway) would be frustrated with it (his innings), he was trying to hit the ball. One of those scratchy knocks you go through as a batter. There is also a lesson in that, that you stick in and luckily for him, he got one out of the middle and then the confidence was flowing. But that happens, but you have to make sure you are batting according to the partnership. I was not sure what to do at the toss, it was a case of thinking that they are a team that prefers chasing and putting them in a position, where if we can bowl well in the powerplay…160-165 was an excellent effort (by the bowlers), I felt it was a little under-par. (On Bravo getting injured) Big scare at the moment, mostly because Bravo is such an experienced death bowler. Stoinis bowling that (penultimate) over, he did a fantastic job. Hardie has not bowled much but those two overs at the end, that was a 5-10 run difference (in our favour).
Kieron Pollard, MI New York captain: We gave ourselves a good chance, getting 160-odd. 170, psychologically, it might have made a difference. The ball came onto the bat better in the second innings (because of the rain and the wetness). We were not the sharpest in the field today and in games like these, it is about who blinks first. We were not up to the mark in terms of that. Well played to Texas and they deserve to go on in this tournament. (Message to the fans) Keep supporting, the guys gave it their all. We fought all the way through. We are going to regroup and going to come back next year. To the players, we have to continue working hard. The American guys, they have to work to get up to the standard, and us international players, to work hard to keep scoring runs and getting wickets (and doing our job).
Devon Conway: (Challenges he faced) Just struggled to match Faf. Watching him from the non-striker's end, made me want to involve myself in that act. Tried to hit it hard, tough night for me but happy to get the job done. When Faf got out, I said to myself that it was important to bat through and get over the line. Gave them an opportunity they should have taken, but grateful it went the other way. We thought it (the score) was competitive, maybe slightly under-par. Faf and I said we wanted to be positive in the powerplay. Credit to Boult, who made it challenging for us.
11:11pm A clinical run-chase by the Texas Super Kings. Their captain set it up inside the powerplay and continued in that vein, even after the field restrictions were lifted. That was particularly pertinent because Conway, for a chunk of his innings, could not get the ball off the square. To the New Zealander's credit, he did not throw it away and held one end up, which allowed du Plessis and Hardie, who also thrilled with his stroke-play, to function with absolute freedom.
A disappointing outing for MINY, especially in the field. There were numerous misfields and they also missed several run-out opportunities. Their shoulders also seemed to drop when Conway and du Plessis were plundering runs, and a TSK victory, after the 16th over, seemed more a matter of when rather than if, which sums up how the defending champions' evening went.
Just four needed. TSK possibly moments away from dumping out the defending champions. Ugarkar to bowl
END OF OVER:18 | 18 Runs | TSK: 160/1 (4 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 8.88, RRR: 2.00)
- Aaron Hardie34 (20b)
- Devon Conway50 (42b)
- Trent Boult4-0-50-0
- Nosthush Kenjige3-0-24-1
Over the wicket now
Boult is back. But is it already too late? 22 needed off 18. Around the wicket to Hardie
END OF OVER:17 | 14 Runs | TSK: 142/1 (22 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 8.35, RRR: 7.33)
- Aaron Hardie17 (15b)
- Devon Conway49 (41b)
- Nosthush Kenjige3-0-24-1
- Romario Shepherd3-0-26-0
28 off 22
Here's Kenjige