Dallas [US], June 30: South African veterans starred as Texas Super Kings (TSK) stormed into the knockout stage of Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025 with a dominant 39-run win over MI New York (MINY), thanks to a masterclass from skipper Faf du Plessis and a late blitz by Donovan Ferreira.
Leading from the front, du Plessis smashed his second century of the season, scoring a commanding ton to anchor TSK’s innings. Ferreira added firepower in the death overs, smashing a 20-ball 53 as TSK posted a formidable 223/4.
Despite a fighting 70 off 39 balls by Kieron Pollard, MINY managed only 184/9 in reply, with TSK spinner Akeal Hosein delivering a match-winning spell.
Du Plessis’ innings was not just vital for the match but historic as well — it was his 8th career T20 hundred, equalling the likes of Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, Jos Buttler, Michael Klinger, and Rohit Sharma for the fourth-most T20 centuries. He now boasts 11,755 runs from 420 T20 matches.
Pollard, too, reached a personal milestone. With his knock, he overtook Alex Hales to become the second-highest run-scorer in T20 history, tallying 13,738 runs in 702 games, second only to Chris Gayle.
TSK’s start was shaky with Smit Patel falling early to George Linde, but du Plessis quickly took charge with an aggressive assault that saw him reach 50 in just 21 balls. After a brief middle-overs slowdown, he and Ferreira exploded in the final three overs, scoring 56 runs.
Ferreira’s fifty matched the record for the fastest half-century in MLC history. Meanwhile, MINY’s bowling crumbled under pressure — highlighted by Rushil Ugarkar’s five consecutive wides in the final over, matching a notorious record set by Shardul Thakur.
MINY’s chase never quite got going. Nandre Burger and Akeal Hosein ripped through the top order, with Hosein claiming the key wickets of Quinton de Kock and Tajinder Singh. By the 11th over, MINY were reeling at 75/4.
Pollard staged a late fightback, clobbering three sixes in a single over from Noor Ahmad and helping build an 88-run stand. But Burger dismissed him in the penultimate over to end any hopes of a comeback.
With this win, TSK march confidently into the MLC 2025 knockouts, while MINY will need to regroup after the defeat.