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San Francisco Unicorns registered their second win of the ongoing Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024. Corey Anderson-led beat Heinrich Klaasen's Seattle Orcas by 23 runs at Church Street Park, Morrisville on July 15. Matthew Short scored a half-century whereas Liam Plunkett bagged three wickets as Orcas' Shehan Jayasuriya's fifty went in vain.
Unicorns post par total
Klaasen won the toss and opted to field first. Imad Wasim knocked over Jake Fraser-McGurk with an arm ball in the third over. Punjab Kings batter Matthew Short and Finn Allen used the fielding restrictions as Unicorns had 55/1 on the board after powerplay overs. Allen took on Harmeet Singh in the seventh over and smashed him for two consecutive sixes. Short gave similar treatment to Wasim in the 10th over. In the same over, Wasim dismissed Allen. He scored 34 runs from 18 balls.
Short reached his half-century with a six in the 11th over. In the next over, Cameron Gannon dismissed him. Short scored 56 runs from 32 balls. In the next over, Gannon knocked over skipper Anderson for a single-digit score. Harmeet in his last over got rid of Josh Inglis. In the slog overs, Sanjay Krishmanmurthi's 21-ball 30 cameo helped Unicorns post 165/7.
Plunkett’s timely strikes drown Orcas
In the run chase, Ryan Rickelton and Jayasuriya got Orcas off to a cautious start. In the sixth over, Jayasuriya smashed Haris Rauf for three fours and a six. Orcas had 54 runs on the board after powerplay overs. In the ninth over, Plunkett broke the partnership with a cutter to deceive Rickleton. The Proteas batter scored 29 runs from 21 balls in the 76-run partnership. In the next over, Short got the wicket of Quinton de Kock.
Jayasuriya reached his fifty from 35 balls in the 10th over. In the same over, Pat Cummins got his wicket. He scored 54 runs from 37 balls including seven fours and a couple of sixes. Plunkett returned to dismiss USA vice-captain Aaron Jones cheaply. Then Orcas skipper Klaasen lost his wicket to Anderson. Plunkett on the last ball of 17th over got Harmeet's wicket. In the last three overs, not a single boundary was scored. Orcas managed to post 142/6 and lost the match by 23 runs.
Must-win encounters for Orcas
Orcas are at the bottom of the points table with just one win from three games. They have three more games to play at the league stage. Every game will be a must-win game for them now.
“Yeah, it would seem like a must win. The group is staggered nicely, so a win here can bump you up a couple of places. We want to go to Dallas with a win, and win there and hopefully get into the playoffs,” Klaasen said in the post-match presentation.
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