The San Francisco Unicorns Defeat the Texas Super Kings by Ten Runs

Texas Super Kings fell short at 190/4

Texas Super Kings vs San Francisco Unicorns /

By Caroline Chepkorir

The San Francisco Unicorns showed a total of 200/6 which was courtesy of a vital inning from Finn Allen 101, setting the stage for the epic chase, in which the Texas Super Kings fell just short at 190/4. Fell Allen's stunning 101 off 53 consisted of nine boundaries and five sixes, which was the tone for the San Francisco Unicorns.

Allen's actions throughout the power play gave the San Francisco unicorns the momentum they needed, which resulted in a power play score of 66/0. Despite Noor Ahmed's quick wickets of Jake Fraser McGurk (18) and Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Josh Inglis contributed a critical 37 from 25 deliveries which helped Allen through the innings. Finn Allen bowled Marcus Stonis for 16 runs on two occasions, the second and 13th overs, and Zia Ul Haq for 18 runs, including successive sixes.

Hassan Khan's swift 27 off 15 balls was also significant, which propelled the San Francisco unicorns above the 200-run mark. Noah Ahmed was the best bowler for the Texas Super Kings, he took an important wickets and finished on 3/27.

The Texas Super Kings started well with Devon Conway's 62, which lead the chase. He increased the pace throughout the game, and Conway blasted in only 38 balls. He hit four fours and two sixes in an inning where he did not see enough of the ball.

Faf du Plessis scored a fast 45 off 22 balls, but he was removed, which worked against the Texas Super Kings. Aaron Hardie, Milind Kumar, and Marcus Stonis all participated, but the total did not meet the needed minimum. Joshua Tromp hit a 56 from 36 balls to keep the Texas Super Kings in the game till the last over.

Conway reached his half-century in just 30 balls, while Tromp did so in 31 deliveries, he struck four fours and two sixes.

The match came down to the final five overs, with the Texas Super Kings chasing 64 runs. Conway and Tromp were at the crease, but Haris Rauf and Pat Cummins kept things under control for the San Francisco Unicorns. Cummins effort was crucial in the 20th over, he scored only 7 runs when 18 were required, and the San Francisco Unicorns won the final MLC 2024.

“Different guys have chipped in at times; we've had players contributing when most needed, winning us moments in the games. Obviously, someone scoring a hundred is great, but we've been great as a team. Both of them are world-class bowlers on Haris Rauf and Pat Cummins; they know what they want to do, and I completely trust them to do it. I thought they kept going Texas Super Kings batters but we kept hanging in and we had runs on the board. He was incredible tonight, won us the moments in the middle, was a bit underdone coming into the tournament, but has gotten better with games. It was moments like that that will help us going further on his one-handed catch. Faf has been playing well right through the tournament, so that catch helped us to stall some of the momentum away from them,” said Corey Anderson in a media report.