Dallas [US], June 30 (ANI): The South African stars of Texas Super Kings (TSK) rose to the occasion as they secured a commanding 39-run win over MI New York (MINY) to seal a spot in the knockout stage of the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025. Skipper Faf du Plessis led from the front with his second century of the season, while Donovan Ferreira unleashed a brutal late assault, smashing a 20-ball 53 to lift TSK to a daunting total of 223/4. Spinner Akeal Hosein then delivered a standout performance with the ball, as MINY could only manage 184/9 despite Kieron Pollard's valiant 70 off 39 balls, as per ESPNcricinfo.

Du Plessis' ton was his eighth in T20 cricket, putting him in elite company, drawing level with the likes of Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, Jos Buttler, Michael Klinger, and Rohit Sharma for the fourth-highest number of T20 centuries. He now has 11,755 runs from 420 T20 matches. On the other side, Kieron Pollard etched his name further into the record books, surpassing Alex Hales to become the second-highest run-scorer in T20 history. With 13,738 runs in 702 matches, he trails only Chris Gayle (14,562 runs).

TSK's innings didn't start smoothly, with George Linde trapping Smit Patel LBW early, leaving them at 3/1 but du Plessis quickly seized control, hammering Ehsan Adil for 16 runs in the third over, including back-to-back sixes. He continued the onslaught with two sixes each off Linde and Trent Boult in the following overs, reaching his half-century in just 21 balls.

MINY tightened their grip momentarily, allowing just one boundary across the next four overs. Saiteja Mukkamalla's dismissal during this period further slowed TSK's momentum. However, du Plessis reignited the innings with two more sixes off Linde, before Marcus Stoinis fell to Rushil Ugarkar.

That's when Ferreira joined du Plessis and turned the heat on. The skipper smashed Pollard for a six over midwicket, while Ferreira added a pair of boundaries in the same over. Du Plessis followed up with a four off Boult before the final three overs produced a game-defining 56 runs.

Ferreira ripped into Adil for 20 runs in the 18th over, and du Plessis brought up his century with a pull shot off Boult. In the final over, du Plessis started with two sixes, and Ugarkar struggled with his line, equalling Shardul Thakur's dubious T20 record of five consecutive wides. Ferreira capitalized, smashing a six off the third legal delivery to reach a blistering fifty, matching the fastest half-century in MLC history.

MINY's reply was shaky from the start. Nandre Burger struck early to remove Nicholas Pooran, and Hosein followed up with a wicket-maiden in the powerplay. He then accounted for Quinton de Kock and Tajinder Singh in back-to-back overs, reducing MINY to 75/4 by the 11th over.

Pollard launched a late charge, hammering Noor Ahmad for three sixes in a row during the 14th over. A misfield by Mukkamalla gifted another boundary, adding momentum to the 88-run partnership.

Burger later cleaned up Pollard in the penultimate over, sealing MINY's fate. (ANI)