San Francisco Unicorns scored 165/7 in 20 overs, where as Seattle Orcas scored 142/6 in 20 overs.
So, finally San Francisco Unicorns beat Seattle Orcas by 23 runs.
The San Francisco Unicorns surged to third place in the MLC 2024 standings with a commanding 23-run victory over the Seattle Orcas in Morrisville.
Opting to bat first, the Unicorns set a competitive total of 165/7, bolstered by a rapid 75-run partnership between Matthew Short (56) and Finn Allen (34).
Liam Plunkett then led the bowling attack, taking 3 for 26 to secure the win.
This defeat marked the Orcas’ third in four matches, leaving them at the bottom of the points table.
In retrospect, the Orcas may regret their decision to chase on a pitch that became increasingly slow and difficult to bat on.
However, Allen and Short capitalized on the favorable conditions, putting on an impressive performance in the 39 balls they batted together after the early loss of Jake Fraser-McGurk.
The Unicorns reached 55 in the Power Play, with Allen hitting two successive sixes off Harmeet Singh right after the fielding restrictions were lifted.
Short also contributed, striking two sixes against the economical Imad Wasim (2 for 28).
By the time Allen fell in the ninth over for 34 off just 18 balls, the Unicorns had already scored 95 runs.
Short was dismissed shortly after for his 32-ball 56, having hit another six off Harmeet.
At that point, a score of 200 seemed possible, but changing conditions and strong bowling from Cameron Gannon (3 for 26) brought the Orcas back into contention.
Following Short’s dismissal, Gannon took down Corey Anderson in the next over, while Harmeet sent Josh Inglis back to the pavilion, leading to the Unicorns losing three wickets for just 24 runs.
By the 18th over, they had managed to crawl to 150/6 before a late cameo from Sanjay Krishnamurthi (30 off 21) pushed them to 165.
The Orcas, acknowledging the pitch’s new-ball advantage, started aggressively in the Power Play, with Shehan Jayasuriya smashing 18 runs off a single Haris Rauf over to lift the score to 54/0 after six overs.
The opening duo of Jayasuriya and Ryan Rickelton added 76 runs in just 8.3 overs before Plunkett’s leg cutter dismissed Rickelton.
Short, who also bowled two economical overs for 11 runs, made an impact with the ball by removing Quinton de Kock for just 2 runs.
Pat Cummins, making his season debut, then claimed the wicket of half-centurion Jayasuriya, reducing the Orcas to 87 for 3.
Things worsened for the Orcas as they fell to 98 for 5, with Plunkett taking another wicket and captain Corey Anderson dismissing Heinrich Klaasen, sending the team into a tailspin.
Lacking lower-order strength to turn the match around, the Orcas found it increasingly difficult to score in the challenging conditions and ultimately fell well short of the target.
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