San Francisco Unicorns defeat Seattle Orcas by 23 runs in Major League Cricket Match 13

In Major League Cricket Match 13 at Church Street Park, Morrisville, the San Francisco Unicorns defeated the Seattle Orcas by 23 runs.

Match Summary

Seattle Orcas vs San Francisco Unicorns, Match 13

Seattle Orcas 142/6 (20 ov)

San Francisco Unicorns 165/7 (20 ov)

San Francisco Unicorns won by 23 runs

SCORECARD  

Match Analysis

San Francisco Unicorns eventually wrestled control from the Seattle Orcas to win a tense game – their last in Morrisville, NC – and jump up the Major League Cricket table, ending the day in third position and within the playoff places.

Having been put into bat after losing the toss, Corey Anderson’s team – which included Pat Cummins for the first time – set about on a trademark fast start in the heat of North Carolina.

Following an opening over that saw batsmen Finn Allen and Jake Fraser-McGurk feel their way into the game, the boundaries soon came in the second, with 11 runs coming off Orcas’ quick Nandre Burger.

Imad Wasim returned in over three to land the first blow, taking the wicket of Fraser-McGurk for 11, leaving the Unicorns on 20/1 when form batsman Matt Short was introduced. The combination of Allen and Short saw a spate of boundaries in the powerplay, which finished on 55/1.

The runs continued to flow, particularly against the Orcas’ pace attack, but Wasim returned to take the prize wicket of Finn Allen, caught and bowled on 34, in the ninth over. Short continued to take the game on, bringing up his 50 soon after with a six off a Harmeet Singh full-toss over long on, only to fall the next over to Cameron Gannon for 56 from 32 balls.

The wicket sparked a drop in momentum and run rate for the Unicorns with a four over boundary drought and the loss of regular wickets, including Corey Anderson for 5 and Josh Inglis for 8. Hassan Khan and Sanjay Krishnamurthi steadied the ship for the batting side, trading in singles and mixing up the strike well, before the former was caught off Gannon for 10 runs.

This marked the entrance of Pat Cummins for his first action of Major League Cricket in the 18th over, sparking the crowd into a frenzy as he made his way to the crease. After some aggressive stroke play by the Australian captain and a last over six from Krishnamurthi, the Unicorns finished their innings on a defendable 165/7.

Carmi le Roux opened the bowling in what was his first appearance in this year’s MLC, conceding just five runs off his first over to the Orca’s opening pair of Ryan Rickleton and Shehan Jayasuriya. Matt Short started at the other end in a change of strategy for the Unicorns, with Anderson eyeing up variety early and putting the onus on the batsman to add their own power to slower deliveries.

The third over saw an unfortunate incident with le Roux struck by a Rickleton drive on both the hand and face as he carried his follow through. After a worrying moment where le Roux took some medical attention on the ground, he soon walked off the pitch under his own steam with his captain completing the over.

Seattle Orca’s increasingly took a stranglehold of the game from this point, with the two openers putting on a partnership of 74 before Liam Plunkett shattered Rickleton’s stumps for 29 in the ninth over with a first-rate delivery that shaped and seamed away from the South African’s outside edge.

Matt Short added the wicket of Quinton de Kock the over after for 2, before fan favourite Cummins came back into the attack for his second over to remove Jayasuriya for 54 and land his inaugural MLC scalp.

San Francisco steadily turned the tide, restricting boundaries and removing Orcas’ batsman at regular intervals, with Liam Plunkett taking Aaron Jones’ wicket caught and bowled, and Corey Anderson removing captain Heinrich Klaasen for six. Plunkett eventually ended with 3/26 in a performance that would see him named match MVP.

With the run rate rising, the Orcas were left needing 28 to win from the last over, bowled by Haris Rauf, and with just four singles coming from it, the Unicorns bounced back from a defeat against the Texas Super Kings with a mature performance to go to two wins from four, leaving their opposition rooted to the bottom of the table.

San Francisco Unicorns now leave North Carolina to play their remaining three league games at the Grand Prairie Stadium, near Dallas, TX, starting with MI New York on 18 July.

 

Match Stats

San Francisco Unicorns Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Jake Fraser McGurk - 2.3 ov), 2-95 (Finn Allen - 8.6 ov), 3-106 (Matthew Short - 10.1 ov), 4-115 (Corey Anderson - 12.3 ov), 5-119 (Josh Inglis - 13.1 ov), 6-150 (Hassan Khan - 17.4 ov), 7-165 (Sanjay Krishnamurthi - 19.6 ov)

Seattle Orcas Fall of wickets: 1-76 (Ryan Rickelton - 8.3 ov), 2-79 (Quinton de Kock - 9.3 ov), 3-87 (Shehan Jayasuriya - 10.6 ov), 4-96 (Aaron Jones - 12.2 ov), 5-98 (Heinrich Klaasen - 13.3 ov), 6-128 (Harmeet Singh - 16.6 ov)

Playing XI

Seattle Orcas 

• Quinton de Kock(WK)
• Heinrich Klaasen
• Ryan Rickelton
• Aaron Jones
• Hammad Azam
• Imad Wasim
• Harmeet Singh
• Shehan Jayasuriya
• Cameron Gannon
• Nandre Burger
• Zaman Khan

San Francisco Unicorns 

• Finn Allen
• Josh Inglis(WK)
• Jake Fraser McGurk
• Corey Anderson(C)
• Matthew Short
• Hassan Khan
• Sanjay Krishnamurthi
• Pat Cummins
• Haris Rauf
• Liam Plunkett
• Carmi le Roux

 

Match Details:

Date: Monday, July 15, 2024 20:30

Venue: Church Street Park, Morrisville

Toss: Seattle Orcas elected to bowl