![Ayan Desai trapped Devon Conway infront of the stumps in the first ball of the match [X]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1721794540641_conway_out.jpg?type=mq)
Ayan Desai trapped Devon Conway infront of the stumps in the first ball of the match [X]
The Texas Super Kings took on the Seattle Orcas in the final league match of the MLC 2024. This match is being played at the Grand Prarie Stadium in Dallas.
The 21st and the last game of the league stages have little significance to the qualification scenarios in the tournament as the four teams for the playoffs have already been decided. The Texas Super Kings were looking to end the group stages on a high as that would let them carry a positive momentum ahead into the business end of the tournament. On the other hand, it was a battle of prestige for the Seattle Orcas, as they had no further chance of making it into the top four.
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Ayan Desai's dream debut
The Seattle Orcas won the toss and opted to field first in the game. The Super Kings have depended a lot on Devon Conway and Faf du Plessis in this tournament to give them some solid starts. The same was expected of the duo in this game, too.
However, the Kiwi opener failed to deliver as per expectations as he was outfoxed by the Orcas' debutant - Ayan Desai. In the very first ball of the match, Desai bowled a short of a good length delivery, which Devon Conway was looking to pull away to the square leg region. However, he misread the bounce on the ball and failed to connect his bat with it. The ball wrapped the southpaw on the pads, and there was a big appeal for the leg before. The umpire raised the finger, and the Super Kings were left in early trouble.
Notably, this was the first ball for Desai in his MLC career. The left-arm medium pacer will be happy with the way he has started off his career. Desai also picked up the wicket of Marcus Stoinis and finished the innings with two wickets for 30 runs from his four overs.
Middle order resilience of Super Kings
The middle order of the Super Kings did a good repair job and ensured that they reached a fighting total of 177/8 in their 20 overs. The total proved to be enough on the day as the Orcas never got going in the chase and managed only 140/9 in their quota of overs.
Faf du Plessis and his boys will take the positives from the game and move ahead to the playoffs with great momentum behind them.
 "Probuddha Bhattacharjee")
