San Francisco Unicorns Secure Third Place with Victory Over Seattle Orcas

The San Francisco Unicorns rose to third place in the MLC 2024 standings after a decisive 23-run win against the Seattle Orcas in Morrisville. Batting first, the Unicorns posted a competitive total of 165/7, largely thanks to a rapid 75-run partnership between Matthew Short (56) and Finn Allen (34). Liam Plunkett then spearheaded the defence with impressive figures of 3 for 26. The Orcas' third loss in four games left them at the bottom of the points table.

In hindsight, the Orcas might reconsider their decision to chase on a surface that progressively became slower and more challenging for batting. However, Allen and Short made the most of the conditions during their 39-ball partnership after the early loss of Jake Fraser-McGurk. The Unicorns reached 55 during the PowerPlay, with Allen smashing two consecutive sixes off Harmeet Singh immediately after the fielding restrictions were lifted. Short also hit two sixes against the typically economical Imad Wasim (2 for 28). When Allen was dismissed in the ninth over for an 18-ball 34, the Unicorns were at a strong 95 runs.

Seven balls later, Short was out for a 32-ball 56, having struck another six off Harmeet. At that point, a total of 200 seemed possible before the changing conditions and excellent bowling from Cameron Gannon (3 for 26) brought the Orcas back into the game. Gannon removed Short and then dismissed a struggling Corey Anderson in the following over. Harmeet took out Josh Inglis as the Unicorns lost three wickets for 24 runs in that phase. By the 18th over, they had crawled to 150/6 before a quick-fire 30 off 21 balls from Sanjay Krishnamurthi pushed them to 165.

Acknowledging the favourable conditions for new-ball batting, the Orcas attacked during the PowerPlay with Shehan Jayasuriya hitting 18 runs off a Haris Rauf over, propelling the team to 54/0 after six overs. Openers Jayasuriya and Ryan Rickelton added 76 runs in 8.3 overs before Plunkett bowled Rickelton with an excellent leg cutter. Short, who had already contributed with the bat, made an impact with the ball by dismissing Quinton de Kock for 2. Pat Cummins, making his season debut, then dismissed the half-centurion Jayasuriya, reducing the Orcas to 87 for 3.

The collapse continued with the score at 98 for 5, as Plunkett took another wicket and captain Corey Anderson dismissed his counterpart, Heinrich Klaasen, sending the Orcas into a tailspin. Lacking lower-order strength and with challenging conditions making stroke play difficult, the Orcas fell well short of the target.

Brief scores: San Francisco Unicorns 165/7 in 20 overs (Matthew Short 56, Finn Allen 34; Cameron Gannon 3-26) beat Seattle Orcas 142/6 in 20 overs (Shehan Jayasuriya 54; Liam Plunkett 3-26) by 23 runs.