146/1 (15.4)
CR : 9.32
143/9 (20.0)
CR : 7.15
San Francisco Unicorns won by 9 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
L Pretorius
102(52)*
9:19 AM IST, 10:49 PM Local Time: Lhuan-dre Pretorius's magical unbeaten ton at the top of the order sets up a brilliant 9-wicket win for the San Francisco Unicorns against the defending champions MI New York in Dallas!
The Unicorns won the toss and decided to bowl first. Excellnt bowling spells from Matthew Short (3/24), Aaron Hardie (2/17) and Haris Rauf (2/24) restricted New York to 143/9. Opener Ryan Rickelton top scoring with 35 off 21 and Sunny Patel hitting 3 fours and a six to score 32 off 23.
Pretorius and Finn Allen (20 off 17) provided a brilliant start to the chase adding 52 runs in the powerplay. Romario Shepherd got the only breakthrough of the innings in the 7th over. Skipper Short arrived at the crease and played second fiddle around Pretorius as the southpaw displayed his armory of strokes and timed the ball supremely against both the pacers and spinners.
Short hit an unbeaten 19 off 25 balls surpassing the landmark of 4000 T20 runs in the process. Pretorius smashed 5 sixes and 10 fours in his unbeaten knock and finished the game with a four with 26 balls left.
Shepherd was the pick of the bowlers with 1/17 in his 4 overs, inclusive of a wicket maiden. The experienced Trent Boult had a forgetful day with 0/41 in his 3 overs. The Unicorns move to the top of the points table with 10 points to their name in the tournament.
The Unicorns won the toss and decided to bowl first. Excellnt bowling spells from Matthew Short (3/24), Aaron Hardie (2/17) and Haris Rauf (2/24) restricted New York to 143/9. Opener Ryan Rickelton top scoring with 35 off 21 and Sunny Patel hitting 3 fours and a six to score 32 off 23.
Pretorius and Finn Allen (20 off 17) provided a brilliant start to the chase adding 52 runs in the powerplay. Romario Shepherd got the only breakthrough of the innings in the 7th over. Skipper Short arrived at the crease and played second fiddle around Pretorius as the southpaw displayed his armory of strokes and timed the ball supremely against both the pacers and spinners.
Short hit an unbeaten 19 off 25 balls surpassing the landmark of 4000 T20 runs in the process. Pretorius smashed 5 sixes and 10 fours in his unbeaten knock and finished the game with a four with 26 balls left.
Shepherd was the pick of the bowlers with 1/17 in his 4 overs, inclusive of a wicket maiden. The experienced Trent Boult had a forgetful day with 0/41 in his 3 overs. The Unicorns move to the top of the points table with 10 points to their name in the tournament.
Highest scores for Lhuan-dre Pretorius in T20s
102* (52) vs MI New York, Dallas, 2026, Tonight*
98* (65) vs MI Cape Town, Paarl, 2026
97 (51) vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Paarl, 2025
87 (39) vs Seattle Orcas, Oakland, 2026
83 (52) vs MI Cape Town, Paarl, 2025
102* (52) vs MI New York, Dallas, 2026, Tonight*
98* (65) vs MI Cape Town, Paarl, 2026
97 (51) vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Paarl, 2025
87 (39) vs Seattle Orcas, Oakland, 2026
83 (52) vs MI Cape Town, Paarl, 2025
Nicholas Pooran (MI New York Captain): "[Whether he thought a total of 143 was enough] It was always going to be tricky. 143 on a really good batting pitch, once the lights come on, it's obviously difficult for the bowlers as well. It wasn't our day, but congrats to the Unicorns, they outplayed us, not just today but a couple of days earlier as well.
[On the team talk during the break] It was going to be difficult; it was all about showing attitude and pushing the game as deep as possible. In T20 cricket, you never know what will happen. Credit to our bowlers as well; they fought hard. But Lhuan-dre Pretorius played a beautiful innings, his first T20 century - and obviously a young kid showing us how to do it here. Congrats to him, well played, and hopefully we can take a few notes.
[On the upcoming games] It's T20 cricket, one minute you're on top of the table, next minute, you're struggling to win a game. T20 cricket is all about winning and losing, and we know how contagious that can be. For us, it's just about putting up a complete performance, and hopefully we can get the right momentum at the right time. Hopefully, it's sooner rather than later."
[On the team talk during the break] It was going to be difficult; it was all about showing attitude and pushing the game as deep as possible. In T20 cricket, you never know what will happen. Credit to our bowlers as well; they fought hard. But Lhuan-dre Pretorius played a beautiful innings, his first T20 century - and obviously a young kid showing us how to do it here. Congrats to him, well played, and hopefully we can take a few notes.
[On the upcoming games] It's T20 cricket, one minute you're on top of the table, next minute, you're struggling to win a game. T20 cricket is all about winning and losing, and we know how contagious that can be. For us, it's just about putting up a complete performance, and hopefully we can get the right momentum at the right time. Hopefully, it's sooner rather than later."
Time for the post-match Presentation!
Lhuan-dre Pretorius gets the 'Power Hitter of the Match' award.
Matt Short gets the 'Play of the Match' award.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius gets the 'MVP of the Match' award.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius (MVP): "[What did that feel like?] Well, firstly on my mind was getting the team over the line and winning the game, but I would be lying if I said the 100 didn't play in the back of my mind because I've fallen short a couple of times. But yeah, it was good fun, and I'm really happy we got the win.
[What was the conversation with the skipper?] We just joked about it, no, actually. We didn't really talk about it at all. But at the back of my mind, I really wanted the 100. But the most important part was getting the team over the line, and I'm glad we could do it. And yeah, I'm a believer if it's meant to be, it's meant to be, and luckily it was meant to be tonight.
[On team topping the points table and him topping the batting charts] Yeah, really good. It's one of the best environments I've played cricket in. I haven't played in a lot of teams yet, but yeah, it's one of the best environments, if not the best, I've been a part of. And yeah, I'm really grateful to be here. It's so much fun.
[On hitting big sixes tonight] I was actually using Finn's (Finn Allen) bat. I think if I used my own bat, I wouldn't be able to hit those big sixes. I'll ask him now nicely if I can have the bat and keep it in my bag."
[What was the conversation with the skipper?] We just joked about it, no, actually. We didn't really talk about it at all. But at the back of my mind, I really wanted the 100. But the most important part was getting the team over the line, and I'm glad we could do it. And yeah, I'm a believer if it's meant to be, it's meant to be, and luckily it was meant to be tonight.
[On team topping the points table and him topping the batting charts] Yeah, really good. It's one of the best environments I've played cricket in. I haven't played in a lot of teams yet, but yeah, it's one of the best environments, if not the best, I've been a part of. And yeah, I'm really grateful to be here. It's so much fun.
[On hitting big sixes tonight] I was actually using Finn's (Finn Allen) bat. I think if I used my own bat, I wouldn't be able to hit those big sixes. I'll ask him now nicely if I can have the bat and keep it in my bag."
Matthew Short (San Francisco Unicorns Captain): [on what he is pleased with] "We got a good start with the ball. Wickets in the powerplay, that's something that we're striving for. Just to try push the opposition on the backfoot early. So we ticked that box and then the 2 openers. To lay the base there for us was really handy and made my job really easy.
[on Anirudh Immanuel] Massive for him. He's been crook all day. He's been on his sick bed. He's an interesting character. He's pretty quiet but he's very skillful. I've faced him a couple of times in the nets and found him pretty tough. Huge credit to him. It's nice to see him get his first wicket.
[on Pretorius] He's unbelievable. Keeps performing and keeps making my job easier. Bit of a strange one there. I wanted to mention if you want the 100 and just let me knock if you want but I couldn't really middle it anyway so credit to me. I don't think he missed the middle of that tonight and he's a special talent.
[on the upcoming games] Finals is the main goal. Sneak in there but now top 2 is on the cards and get us to San Francisco in front of our home fans."
[on Anirudh Immanuel] Massive for him. He's been crook all day. He's been on his sick bed. He's an interesting character. He's pretty quiet but he's very skillful. I've faced him a couple of times in the nets and found him pretty tough. Huge credit to him. It's nice to see him get his first wicket.
[on Pretorius] He's unbelievable. Keeps performing and keeps making my job easier. Bit of a strange one there. I wanted to mention if you want the 100 and just let me knock if you want but I couldn't really middle it anyway so credit to me. I don't think he missed the middle of that tonight and he's a special talent.
[on the upcoming games] Finals is the main goal. Sneak in there but now top 2 is on the cards and get us to San Francisco in front of our home fans."
That's it from our coverage of another fascinating contest in Major League Cricket! The San Francisco Unicorns getting over the line against MI New York in clinical fashion. Ninaad Dixit here signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Karthik Raj and scorer/analyst Bishal Mandal. Stay tuned for more cricketing action from around the world.