MI London's opening Hundred fixture at the Kia Oval could scarcely have started in a more difficult fashion. Two wickets down without a run of significance on the board, facing a target of 144, the side needed somebody to anchor the innings before the later order could take the game away from Sunrisers. That process began with Sam Curran and ended, emphatically, with Nicholas Pooran.
The Difficult Opening Phase
Will Jacks and James Vince were tasked with opening the chase. Jacks lasted three deliveries, caught at cover by Benny Howell after being beaten by a delivery from Brydon Carse that angled in before seaming away. Jason Roy, playing on his 36th birthday, faced two deliveries and contributed nothing, edging a sharp Carse delivery to Mitchell Marsh at slip. MI London were 8 for 2 after ten deliveries.
The scale of the task was significant: 136 still needed from 90 deliveries, with the two most attacking options in the top order already dismissed. Carse had bowled all ten of those opening deliveries and was extracting genuine movement and pace, making scoring extremely difficult. Sam Curran and James Vince were left to rebuild.
Curran's Steadying Contribution
Sam Curran's innings was the essential component that made the later phases possible. He moved to 12 from 13 deliveries through the middle phase, finding boundaries where he could but prioritising partnership over aggression. His strike rate was measured rather than explosive during the early rebuilding period, with Vince equally watchful alongside him.
Curran reached his fifty from 34 deliveries — described at the time as a proper captain's knock — and did not allow the required rate to become unmanageable. When Benny Howell introduced his slower variations, Curran launched one delivery over straight midwicket for six in a sequence that suggested MI were ready to accelerate. He finished unbeaten on 60 from 39 deliveries, a knock that contained five boundaries and two sixes.
The distinction in Curran's innings was that he recognised when to shift gears. Once the floodlights were on and Pooran had established himself, Curran continued to rotate the strike and hit boundaries when the opportunity arose, never sacrificing the partnership for individual aggression.
Vince's Difficult Evening
James Vince's contribution of 17 from 18 deliveries was a challenging stay. He found the seam bowling of Carse and Potts difficult to put away in the early period and, while he eventually struck two boundaries, Nathan Ellis ended his innings with a delivery that nipped in to take off stump — leaving Vince, in the words of commentary, beaten all ends up. His dismissal left MI London at 51 for 3 after 44 deliveries and brought Pooran to the crease.
Pooran's Decisive Entry
Nicholas Pooran's 58 from 22 deliveries — four boundaries, five sixes — altered the match completely. He was immediately severe on any width offered and was particularly productive against the slower bowlers, taking three boundaries and two sixes off Howell and clearing the rope twice in succession off Abrar Ahmed. With Curran at the other end and 56 needed from 40 deliveries when Pooran passed twenty-five, MI were ahead of the required rate with wickets to spare.
Pooran reached his fifty from 19 deliveries, the fastest such landmark in the franchise's history. He struck the winning boundary — a drive beyond mid off off Matthew Potts — to complete a seven-wicket win with 16 deliveries remaining. For MI London, a chase that had appeared difficult for the first third of the innings was ultimately completed with considerable authority.
