San Francisco Unicorns still perfect after beating MI New York

DALLAS: San Francisco continued their perfect streak on Monday as they defeated MI New York in their fifth match of the Major League Cricket (MLC) season.

San Francisco’s Innings

Matthew Short’s fantastic knock of 91 off 43, which included nine fours and five sixes, propelled the Unicorns into a winning position after they batted first. Apart from the skipper, It was Jake Fraser-McGurk who put the majority of San Francisco’s runs on the board, scoring 64 off 26. A late flurry from Hassan Khan, who scored 31 runs off just nine deliveries, added another 31 runs to his team’s total. Tim Seifert and Sanjay Krishnamaruthi added 26 and 27 runs respectively.

New York’s Nosthush Kenjige took the first wicket of the match, dismissing Seifert in the eighth over. Kieron Pollard then took the wickets of the two highest run scorers, Short in the 14th over and Fraser-McGurk in the 16th, both with some help from the long on fielder Heath Richards. Naveen-ul-Haq dismissed Romario Shepherd on just the fourth ball the Unicorn’s player faced, as a mistimed swivel pull stroke sent the ball to deep mid-wicket, where Pollard took the catch. Shepherd left the field with only two runs to his name.

The Unicorns ended their innings 246 for 4.

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New York’s Innings

An opening partnership of 119 off 58, courtesy of Quinton de Kock and Monank Patel, gave New York a fighting chance. However, Patel would be dismissed in the tenth over by Liam Plunkett, on a slower bouncer that took a leading edge before substitute fielder Cooper Connolly took the catch. Patel scored 60 off 33. Later, in the 16th over, New York skipper Nicholas Pooran after San Francisco used a review, believing that Haris Rauf’s Yorker had nicked the bat before it ended up in Seifert’s gloves. It paid off, and Pooran left the field after scoring 15 off 17.

In the very next over, Shepherd took back to back wickets, first bowling Quinton de Kock as the ball was dragged onto the stumps. Quinton was the highest scorer for New York, making 70 off 46. Michael Bracewell was sent off next for a golden duck, as the ball made it through the gap between bat and pad before taking out the off stump. Xavier Bartlett took two wickets as well, dismissing Tanjinder Singh in the 18th over, and Heath Richards in the 20th, both with some help from Karima Gore. Both batters only managed to score one run.

New York finished their innings at 199 for 6, losing by 47 runs. Matthew Short was named player of the match.

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