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New Zealand opener Finn Allen who had a horrible run in T20 World Cup and Australia's Matthew Short scored half-centuries as San Francisco Unicorns started their Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024 campaign with a comfortable six-wicket win over Los Angeles Knight Riders. At Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas, Knight Riders managed to post 165/6 which was chased down by Unicorns with 28 balls to spare.
Rauf strikes early
Unicorns skipper Corey Anderson won the toss and opted to bowl first. Haris Rauf in his first over dismissed Sunil Narine with a back of the length off-cutter. Half-centurion of previous game, Unmukt Chand departed for a five-ball duck as Brody Couch had his first wicket of the evening. Jason Roy and Shakib Al Hasan hit a few boundaries as Knight Riders had 42/2 on the board after powerplay overs. Liam Plunkett was introduced in the attack and he delivered with Roy's wicket. The English opener scored 26 runs from 18 balls.
Russell’s cameo
Nitish Kumar and Shakib shared a crucial partnership in the middle overs. In the 12th over, Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed dismissed Shakib. The Bangladesh all-rounder scored 35 runs from 26 balls. Couch returned and dismissed Hassan Khan for a 19-ball 20. David Miller hit a six and a four before getting deceived by Rauf's slower ball. Miller scored 24 runs from 18 balls. Russell hit a few sixes in his 25-ball 40 to take Knight Riders' score to 165/6.
Allen, Short go berserk
Unicorns did not get off to a good start and lost their big-hitter Jake Fraser-McGurk to Spencer Johnson for a single-digit score. Allen hit Russell for a four and two sixes to push the scoring rate. He hit three consecutive sixes off Shakib as Unicorns had 67/1 on the board after powerplay overs. Short attacked as well and hit Corne Dry for two sixes. Ali Khan missed an opportunity when he misjudged a catch. Allen reached his fifty from 25 balls in the eighth over. Short did not take much time either and reached his half-century with a six in the 11th over off just 23 balls.
Easy win for Unicorns
The second-wicket partnership was broken by skipper Narine. Short got bowled as he targetted the leg side. He scored 58 runs from 26 balls in the 116-run second-wicket partnership. In the next over, Johnson got the wicket of Allen. The opener scored 63 runs from 37 balls. In the next over, Narine bowled two no balls and was hit for a six by Anderson. Johnson struck again to dismiss Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis for an 11-ball 15. But these wickets turned out to be consolation as Unicorns got over the line in the 16th over.
“It was good. Probably took a bit long to figure out the pace of the wicket. Me and Jake went too hard early. The way Shorty came out and took pressure off me was good,” ‘Player of the match’ Allen said in the post-match presentation.
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