New Zealand opener Finn Allen smashed six sixes and eight fours in his quickfire 30-ball 77 as San Francisco Unicorns beat Heinrich Klaasen's Seattle Orcas by six wickets and 34 balls to spare to reach Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024 Qualifier. Allen’s knock made the run chase of 153 make look easy at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas.
Quinton fires after openers fail
Earlier, Corey Anderson won the toss and opted to bowl first. Carmie le Roux struck twice in the first over dismissing openers Ryan Rickleton and Aaron Jones for golden ducks. Quinton de Kock and Shehan Jayasuriya's partnership stabilised the innings. De Kock broke free in the last two overs of powerplay overs. He reached his half-century from 28 balls while Jayasuriya struggled to score run-a-ball. In the 12th over, Brody Couch broke the partnership with the wicket of De Kock. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 62 runs from 33 balls including eight fours and three sixes.
Under-par score
Couch got injured in the same over. Then Anderson introduced himself into the attack and knocked over Jayasuriya who scored 31 runs from 33 balls. Hassan Khan with his first ball dismissed skipper Klaasen. In his second over, he got Harmeet Singh and Keemo Paul out off consecutive deliveries. Not many boundaries were scored in slog overs. Imad Wasim contributed with a 11-ball 17 cameo taking Seattle Orcas' score to 152/7.
Allen stars in run chase
In the run chase, Matthew Short got the ball rolling with a couple of sixes off Cameron Gannon. In the fifth over, Allen went ballistic and smashed Lungi Ngidi for two sixes and three fours. After powerplay overs, they had 79 runs on the board. The partnership was broken by Wasim. He scored 19 runs from 14 balls. Allen then welcomed Harmeet with a couple of sixes but was caught just inside boundary attempting another.
After a few quiet overs, Josh Inglis ended the boundary drought. Sanjay Krishnamurthi struggled to score quickly and was undone by a stunning one-handed catch from Jayasuriya in the 13th over. Sherfane Rutherford did not let Orcas come back in the game and hit two consecutive sixes. Gannon got Rutherford out caught and bowled but it turned out to be a consolation. Inglis finished the run chase with a maximum as Unicorns with 5.4 overs to spare. Orcas became the first team to be eliminated from the playoff race. They played in the final last season.
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