San Francisco Claims Thrilling MLC Win

They beat MI New York by a margin of three runs in the Major Cricket League

San Francisco stuns MI New York in MLC encounter /

By Caroline Chepkorir

The San Francisco Unicorns edged MI New York by an extremely close margin of three runs
at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas, in the sixteenth match of Major League Cricket 2024.

The San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and chose to bat. Noshtush Kenjige's bowling at the opening of the inning dismissed the San Francisco Unicorns, Finn Allen, and Matthew Short. By the end of the powerplay, the San Francisco Unicorns had reached 28/4.

The MI New York saw an early breakthrough with first over as Trent Boult dismissed Sanjay Krishnamurthi. Josh Inglis and Matthew Short were back at the pavilion, Skipper Pollard bowled out Kenjige with statistics of two for thirty teens. In the second over, Short dismissed Clinton, and openers Dewald Brevis and Nicholas Pooran saw 26 runs out of the powerplay, with MI New York at 31/1.

Going after a comfortable run, MI New York with nine wickets in hand. Dewald Brevis picked the pace and found a boundary at will. He brought up his half century in the ninth over and smashed Pat Cummins for a six and four to the target with 32 balls.

In response, Corey Anderson and Hassan Khan collaborated and had a strong partnership of 87. MI New York lost their intensity, with the batters taking interest in Sunny Patel, who gave up 28 runs in his two overs. The momentum was back to the San Francisco Unicorns when Boult conceded 16 in the over and Patel had 19 run overs.

Pat Cummins bowled 19th overs that were only 5 runs, which was crucial for his team, while Romario Shepherd and Monank Patel fell with little contribution, which led to MI New York’s Rashid Khan with 14 runs. Heath Richard almost won it for MI New York when he chased 20 runs needed with two maximums, until Haris Rauf dismissed him on the final delivery, which secured a three-run victory for the San Francisco Unicorns. The San Francisco Unicorns finished at 148/7 in the 20 overs.

With this victory, the San Francisco Unicorns booked their place in the playoffs of the MLC 2024, while MI New York is in fifth place.

“Today we were looking to bat first as well. Hopefully, we can bowl well. We have to get it all right. Chopping and changing to get the right combination. If you do not try, you never know what will work. For us, it is about understanding the situation, understanding the responsibility. Looking forward to the challenge today. We have to play a good game of cricket. Two changes. Sunny Patel gets an opportunity,” said Kieron Pollard in media reports.