192/8 (19.4)
CR : 9.76
191/10 (19.2)
CR : 9.88
San Francisco Unicorns won by 2 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Brody Couch
3/4126(14)*
19.3
4
Dasun Shanaka to Brody Couch
FOUR MORE! THE SCORES ARE LEVEL! Brody Couch, you little ripper! Shanaka fails to do the job! Full and wide outside off. Couch reaches for it as he bends his back knee and goes after it. Throws his hands at it and slices it over backward point for a boundary.
19.4
1
Dasun Shanaka to Brody Couch
THAT'S IT! BRODY COUCH DOES THE JOB WITH THE BAT, TOO! San Francisco Unicorns pull off a heist in the end! Short, pace off, into the pitch and outside the off stump. Couch stands tall, rolls his wrists and pulls it over backward square for a single. He thumps his chest and points out to the dugout! They win a thriller in California by two wickets! Seattle Orcas have only themselves to blame as they bottled this game!
Over 20
San Francisco Unicorns 192/8
Brody Couch26(14)
Haris Rauf5(9)
Dasun Shanaka2-36(2.4)
SFU won by 2 wickets
10:33 AM IST, 10:03 PM Local Time: A fantastic game of cricket has come to an end at the Oakland Coliseum, with the home team, San Francisco Unicorns, holding their nerve to beat Seattle Orcas by two wickets in a final over thriller! It swung like a pendulum till the end, with both the batters and the bowlers getting enough purchase of the surface that was a graveyard for the former in the afternoon game between Texas Super Kings and MI New York!
Earlier in the game, Seattle Orcas won the toss and opted to bat first. Tim Seifert and Shayan Jahangir tore into the Unicorns' bowlers to smash 60 for the first wicket in just four overs. Seifert fell after his 14-ball 32, but Jahangir and Matthew Breetzke continued their hell-for-leather approach, adding 78 for the second wicket. Both scored whirlwind half-centuries, with the former smashing 62 off 25 balls and the latter smoking 51 off 29 balls.
At one stage, they were 138/1, but once Jahangir fell at the halfway mark, it triggered a collapse for the Orcas. They lost wickets at regular intervals and, in the end, failed to bat out their full 20 overs, being bundled out for 191 in 19.2 overs.
Brody Couch starred with 3/41, while Ghulam Mudassar and Bartlett picked up two each, as did Matt Short at the back end. Rauf picked up the final wicket to fall as the Unicorns made a terrific comeback in the end.
Marcus Stoinis dismissed the dangerous Finn Allen for a duck in the first over before Ottneil Baartman removed the Unicorns' skipper Matthew Short cheaply. Stoinis then got rid of Sanjay Krishnamurthi to reduce the hosts to 26/3 inside 4 overs.
It was Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who batted with utter maturity and single-handedly kept the Unicorns in the hunt with his third fifty in 4 innings in the MLC. Aaron Hardie played a perfect second fiddle at the other end while the duo added 99 runs for the fourth wicket. At this stage, SFU were cruising towards the target, but Dasun Shanaka struck twice in the 12th over to bring the Orcas back in the game. Hardie (28 off 20) and Hammad Azam fell prey to the Sri Lankan, with the latter gifting his wicket away as he didn't review the LBW decision that looked leg side-ish.
Pretorius (87 off 39) was going bonkers and looked well set for a ton, but Cameron Gannon got his number to put the pressure back on the hosts. Xavier Bartlett and Hassan Khan came up with cameos and kept chipping away before a miscommunication between the two saw the former getting run out. Hassan was dismissed in the next over, and suddenly, the hosts were left with the bowlers in the middle, with 29 required off 18 balls.
Brody Couch (26* off 18) held his nerve to seal the deal, with Haris Rauf showing enough resilience not to throw his wicket away at the other end. Couch and Rauf scored 11 off the penultimate over delivered by Baartman before the former killed the game in Shanaka's final over.
Stoinis tried hard and finished with a couple of wickets. Gannon came back well and finished with two key wickets as well. Shanaka picked up two but couldn't hold his nerve in the final over, defending 12 runs.
Earlier in the game, Seattle Orcas won the toss and opted to bat first. Tim Seifert and Shayan Jahangir tore into the Unicorns' bowlers to smash 60 for the first wicket in just four overs. Seifert fell after his 14-ball 32, but Jahangir and Matthew Breetzke continued their hell-for-leather approach, adding 78 for the second wicket. Both scored whirlwind half-centuries, with the former smashing 62 off 25 balls and the latter smoking 51 off 29 balls.
At one stage, they were 138/1, but once Jahangir fell at the halfway mark, it triggered a collapse for the Orcas. They lost wickets at regular intervals and, in the end, failed to bat out their full 20 overs, being bundled out for 191 in 19.2 overs.
Brody Couch starred with 3/41, while Ghulam Mudassar and Bartlett picked up two each, as did Matt Short at the back end. Rauf picked up the final wicket to fall as the Unicorns made a terrific comeback in the end.
Marcus Stoinis dismissed the dangerous Finn Allen for a duck in the first over before Ottneil Baartman removed the Unicorns' skipper Matthew Short cheaply. Stoinis then got rid of Sanjay Krishnamurthi to reduce the hosts to 26/3 inside 4 overs.
It was Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who batted with utter maturity and single-handedly kept the Unicorns in the hunt with his third fifty in 4 innings in the MLC. Aaron Hardie played a perfect second fiddle at the other end while the duo added 99 runs for the fourth wicket. At this stage, SFU were cruising towards the target, but Dasun Shanaka struck twice in the 12th over to bring the Orcas back in the game. Hardie (28 off 20) and Hammad Azam fell prey to the Sri Lankan, with the latter gifting his wicket away as he didn't review the LBW decision that looked leg side-ish.
Pretorius (87 off 39) was going bonkers and looked well set for a ton, but Cameron Gannon got his number to put the pressure back on the hosts. Xavier Bartlett and Hassan Khan came up with cameos and kept chipping away before a miscommunication between the two saw the former getting run out. Hassan was dismissed in the next over, and suddenly, the hosts were left with the bowlers in the middle, with 29 required off 18 balls.
Brody Couch (26* off 18) held his nerve to seal the deal, with Haris Rauf showing enough resilience not to throw his wicket away at the other end. Couch and Rauf scored 11 off the penultimate over delivered by Baartman before the former killed the game in Shanaka's final over.
Stoinis tried hard and finished with a couple of wickets. Gannon came back well and finished with two key wickets as well. Shanaka picked up two but couldn't hold his nerve in the final over, defending 12 runs.
Marcus Stoinis (Seattle Orcas Captain): [Reactions on the final over & his estimation of the game] I think we definitely had opportunities to win that, both with bat and ball, but with the bat especially. I think we almost got too far ahead of ourselves and didn't stick to the things that we know we should do to put together that big score. We had a great platform. So I think we could have obviously made an extra 30, 40, or even 50 runs. And then with the ball, we did really well to pull it back. I think the conditions changed a little bit. There was a bit of drizzle and maybe a bit of dew on the grass. But hats off to them, they did well. Both teams stuck in the game the whole time, and they did the same thing with the ball. So, yeah, it is what it is. We're on the wrong side of this one, but hopefully we're on the right side of the next one.
[138 in the first half of the innings and then a collapse. How did it happen? Change in conditions?] I don't think conditions changed too much. It definitely gets harder in the back half of the innings, but I don't think we were smart enough, to be honest. I think we got off to such a good start that to keep going at that tempo might have always been difficult and got us into trouble in the end.
[Do you think those four balls you would like to have back and be able to play through?] I mean, obviously, ideally, that's not the plan, but that's the way it went."
[138 in the first half of the innings and then a collapse. How did it happen? Change in conditions?] I don't think conditions changed too much. It definitely gets harder in the back half of the innings, but I don't think we were smart enough, to be honest. I think we got off to such a good start that to keep going at that tempo might have always been difficult and got us into trouble in the end.
[Do you think those four balls you would like to have back and be able to play through?] I mean, obviously, ideally, that's not the plan, but that's the way it went."
Player of the Match: Brody Couch
Brody Couch [POTM]: "[How happy are you?] A bit of relief, but ultimately just pumped we could get a win tonight after a disappointing loss in the first game.
[Do you remember playing in such a topsy-turvy T20? Pumped around the park in the first half and then that comeback, and then with the bat.] Yeah, definitely! I've played in a few games like this, but tonight was definitely one of the testing material games, that's for sure. I think halfway through the first innings, we just had to trust the process so we could get back in the game after they got off to a flyer. So, yeah, just so pumped that we could get the win.
[What was the conversation with Haris Rauf? Did you really believe you could get over the line?] Yeah, I think you have to in that situation. You have to back yourself. Look, we were just trying to bat for as long as we could, get to the last over, and then reassess. And, yeah, it's paid off.
[On the home crowd] They were awesome tonight. You could definitely feel it out there. So, I appreciate all the support from the fans.
[With the ball, you adjusted and reacted to how the pitch was playing?] Yeah, I think they got off to a flyer, so it was more about just focusing on our process. Using the wicket, bowling that hard length top of the stumps, trying not to do too much. And, yeah, as I said before, it's been a game that ebbed and flowed, so it's nice to be on the right side of it."
[Do you remember playing in such a topsy-turvy T20? Pumped around the park in the first half and then that comeback, and then with the bat.] Yeah, definitely! I've played in a few games like this, but tonight was definitely one of the testing material games, that's for sure. I think halfway through the first innings, we just had to trust the process so we could get back in the game after they got off to a flyer. So, yeah, just so pumped that we could get the win.
[What was the conversation with Haris Rauf? Did you really believe you could get over the line?] Yeah, I think you have to in that situation. You have to back yourself. Look, we were just trying to bat for as long as we could, get to the last over, and then reassess. And, yeah, it's paid off.
[On the home crowd] They were awesome tonight. You could definitely feel it out there. So, I appreciate all the support from the fans.
[With the ball, you adjusted and reacted to how the pitch was playing?] Yeah, I think they got off to a flyer, so it was more about just focusing on our process. Using the wicket, bowling that hard length top of the stumps, trying not to do too much. And, yeah, as I said before, it's been a game that ebbed and flowed, so it's nice to be on the right side of it."
Matt Short (San Francisco Unicorns Captain): "[Swung like a pendulum. How do you put it out for us?] I thought we were out of it a few times there. You know, credit to probably the bowlers in that second half of the innings to crawl it back. Obviously, taking wickets was the key there. They obviously got off to a flyer. But then, yeah, we sort of hung in there and kept taking wickets and kept us in the game, really. And then, obviously, lost a couple of early wickets, which, again, probably put us on the back foot. Credit to our middle order and, you know, our youngster in Lhuan-dre Pretorius just showing us, you know, how classy he is.
[What was the conversation at the drinks break? They were 138/1.] I think we just sort of started bowling what we weren't bowling in the first 10. I think we were a bit ill-disciplined in the first 10 there, and then I think we sort of went back to basics. We obviously played here a couple of days ago, and, yeah, we knew what worked, and we sort of tried to stick to that as much as we could. And, obviously, wickets help. So taking wickets sort of put them a bit on the slower side, and we went from there.
[On the performances of Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Brody Couch] Yeah, I mean, Lhuan-dre, obviously, a very young player. First time over here, and just really classy. He's very mature for a young fella, very strong as well. He sort of sets himself nicely and hits the ball nice and hard. And then, yeah, credit to Couchy there. He scored a few in the last game here and then did it again tonight. He's another strong player, and hopefully, maybe he's not quite needed as much the rest of the tour, but, yeah, he's showing some class as well."
[What was the conversation at the drinks break? They were 138/1.] I think we just sort of started bowling what we weren't bowling in the first 10. I think we were a bit ill-disciplined in the first 10 there, and then I think we sort of went back to basics. We obviously played here a couple of days ago, and, yeah, we knew what worked, and we sort of tried to stick to that as much as we could. And, obviously, wickets help. So taking wickets sort of put them a bit on the slower side, and we went from there.
[On the performances of Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Brody Couch] Yeah, I mean, Lhuan-dre, obviously, a very young player. First time over here, and just really classy. He's very mature for a young fella, very strong as well. He sort of sets himself nicely and hits the ball nice and hard. And then, yeah, credit to Couchy there. He scored a few in the last game here and then did it again tonight. He's another strong player, and hopefully, maybe he's not quite needed as much the rest of the tour, but, yeah, he's showing some class as well."
That is the end of our live coverage from this doubleheader on Friday night in California! Obviously, it's the Saturday morning in India! Texas Super Kings won a low-scoring affair against MI New York early on, and now, San Francisco Unicorns are bouncing back into the winning ways at home with a two-wicket win against Seattle Orcas in a game that swung both ways.
TSK move to the top of the points table, with 6 points from 5 games, while SFU are fourth with 4 points from as many matches. Another doubleheader is coming up on Saturday night in the USA and Sunday morning out there in India. MINY take on LAKR in the afternoon game before Washington Freedom lock horns with TSK in the evening.
For now, this is AkshayaKrishna Polya signing off on behalf of our scorer, Asraj Khan. We will meet again. Until then, it's cheers!
TSK move to the top of the points table, with 6 points from 5 games, while SFU are fourth with 4 points from as many matches. Another doubleheader is coming up on Saturday night in the USA and Sunday morning out there in India. MINY take on LAKR in the afternoon game before Washington Freedom lock horns with TSK in the evening.
For now, this is AkshayaKrishna Polya signing off on behalf of our scorer, Asraj Khan. We will meet again. Until then, it's cheers!