Unicorns defeat Super Kings behind 117 run Short-Allen partnership

DALLAS: The San Francisco Unicorns are still perfect after four matches, with their latest victory on Friday night coming over the Texas Super Kings thanks to an incredible 117 run opening partnership between Matthew Short and Finn Allen.

The Unicorns remain at the top of the table after defeating the second ranked Super Kings, despite a herculean effort from Texas skipper Faff du Plessis, who scored a 51-ball century. Du Plessis wasn’t able to find any support from the rest of Texas’ batting line-up, with the second highest score coming from Saiteja Mukkamalla, who made 38 off 24.

Haris Rauf took two wickets, beginning with the dismissal of Devon Conway in the tenth over, as the Super Kings’ batter tried his hand at a swivel pull stroke, only for the ball to find the hands of Karima Gore at deep backward square. Rauf’s second wicket was the big one, as he dismissed du Plessis in the 17th over after he skied a ball towards long on where Brody Couch had settled himself to take the catch.

Xavier Bartlett also took two wickets, dismissing Mukkamalla first in the 16th over, and Marcus Stonis in the very next, both with some help from Jake Fraser-McGurk at deep mid-wicket. Daryl Mitchell was run out on the very last ball of Texas’ innings.

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The Unicorns didn’t waste any time taking charge, with a flurry of boundaries courtesy of Short and Allen propelling San Francisco to 110 runs by the end of the eighth over. Short would hit one more six, his fourth of the game, in the ninth over, before being dismissed on the very next delivery from Daryl Mitchell. Short sliced the ball towards deep extra cover where Shubham Ranjane took a fantastic low catch. The Unicorns skipper made 61 off 29 deliveries.

Allen would go on to have a 52-run partnership with Fraser-McGurk before leaving the field himself. A slower delivery from Adam Milne enticed Allen to send a shot over square leg, but bad timing sent the ball to the ring fielder. Allen was sent off after scoring 78 runs off 29.

Fraser-McGurk was the only other dismissal San Francisco suffered, with him leaving the field in the 16th over after attempting to hit the winning boundary. Instead, he found the substitute fielder Donovan Ferreira at long on. He scored 37 runs off 25.

It was Hassan Khan who ended up hitting the winning boundary on the second delivery he faced.

The San Francisco Kings now have eight points after four perfect outings. The Super Kings are right below them in second with six points, having now been dealt their first defeat.

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