San Francisco Unicorns captain Matthew Short claimed a four-wicket haul as MI New York were bowled out for 104 in the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2026 clash at Knight Riders Cricket Stadium, Pomona on July 5. Short contributed with bat too but Sanjay Krishnamurthi's unbeaten 48 ensured Unicorns get over the line with five wickets in hand and 19 balls to spare.
MI lose early wickets
Short won the toss and opted to bowl first on a bowling-friendly track. Quinton de Kock was dismissed for a golden duck by Xavier Bartlett. In the next over, Brody Couch conceded three fours before getting Monank Patel's wicket. Short introduced himself into the attack in the fifth over and got the wicket of Tajinder Dhillon. In the next over, Couch sent Shakib Al Hasan packing. Unicorns were 44/4 after powerplay overs.
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MI fail to post par score
Then, Haris Rauf got the prized wicket of skipper Nicholas Pooran who scored 20 runs from 19 balls. Short came into the attack again and dismissed Kieron Pollard who managed to score just two runs from nine balls. Short continued to strike. Corey Anderson got stumped after scoring just 14 runs from 27 balls. In the 18th over, Corbin Bosch looked to break the shackles with a six. Next ball, he got out lbw to Couch for a 22-ball 21. Short bowled the penultimate over and got Tristan Luus' wicket as well. He conceded just 17 runs from four overs. Faisal Khan Ahmazdai managed to hit a boundary in the final over before becoming Aaron Hardie's only victim of the evening. MI New York were bowled out for 104 in 20 overs. This is MI New York's second lowest total.
Krishnamurthi anchors run chase
Unicorns' run chase did not get off to an ideal start. Faisal dismissed Lhuan-dre Pretorius bowled for a golden duck. Short looked to find boundaries early to bring down the scoring rate. Ahmadzai struck again, dismissing Finn Allen for a single-digit score. Krishnamurthi used the powerplay overs well, scoring boundaries. Unicorns had 49/2 after powerplay overs. Short's cameo came to an end in the seventh over. He scored 21 runs from 20 balls. Hardie couldn't contribute much with the bat and became Luus' second victim.
Hassan Khan tried to soak up the pressure as Krishnamurthi did bulk of the scoring in middle overs. The required run rate wasn't threatening as Unicorns cruised to the win. Tajinder Dhillon got the consolation wicket as Hassan fell for a 24-ball 11. Krishnamurthi scored 48 runs from 45 balls, featuring four fours and a couple of sixes.
The win helped Unicorns rise to the top of the points table. This was their fourth win from seven games. Their net run rate (NRR) is slightly better than Seattle Orcas who have four wins as well.