139/10 (17.4)
CR : 7.87
161/8 (20.0)
CR : 8.05
Texas Super Kings won by 22 runs 🏆
Player of the Match
Amshi de Silva
4/289(2)*
TSK won by 22 runs
10:38 AM IST, 10:08 PM Local Time: Texas Super Kings win by 22 runs! The 'men in yellow' jump up to second on the points table with that win. They needed that after 2 losses in a row. They were a tad shabby with the bat, but the bowlers made up for it and have gifted a win the side can look to build on from here.
San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to bowl first. The TSK openers, Faf du Plessis and Saiteja Mukkamalla gave the visitors, the perfect start as they smoked 48 in the first 6 overs. They pushed the score to 72 in 8 overs before Faf was dismissed for a well-made 40. The middle order could not build on the start, and a terrible collapse followed the first wicket. From 72/1 the Super Kings slipped to 96/5 with numbers 3,4 and 5 adding 0, 8 and 6 respectively. Mukkamalla was also dismissed in that phase as he departed for 36.
There was a recovery act from Donovan Ferreira as with Wiaan Mulder he added 40 for the 6th wicket. However, once that stand was broken, it was once again all single digits from the lower order as the Super Kings were restricted to 151/8 in 20 overs. Ferreira was the top scorer with 45 next to his name. The pick of the bowlers was Ghulam Mudassar for his 2/30. The chase did not look all that tricky at the halfway stage, but some good bowling could always make it challenging.
That is exactly what came to the party from Amshi de Silva. The young quick bowlers ran through the Unicorns top order. He knocked off Finn Allen for just 3. He returned in his next over to have Lhuan-dre Pretorius caught by Faf at mid off. It was another stunner from the ageless Faf. In the very same over he knocked over Connor Esterhuizen for 4. The Unicorns were down to 37/3 inside 5 overs.
Just as something was building up between Matthew Short and Sanjay Krishnamurthy, Amshi was once again in the act as he nailed a direct hit from the sweeper fence to find Sanjay short of his crease. The wickets regularly fell as Abhimanyu Lamba joined the party by getting Matthew Short for 28 and Hassan Khan for 14 inside the 10th over. The Unicorns were reeling at 80/6 in 10 overs.
Haris Rauf could not make much of an impact with the bat in hand he too was dismissed to bring the score down to 90/7. A short and fiery partnership Hammad Azam and Brody Couch pushed the score to 115 before Azam was knocked over. Couch then added a quickfire 20 with Peter Siddle before he too was undone by a pace off ball. The Unicorns were eventually bundled out for 139 and lost by 22 runs. The pick of the bowlers was Amshi de Silva for his fiery spell of 4-28 in 4 overs.
San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to bowl first. The TSK openers, Faf du Plessis and Saiteja Mukkamalla gave the visitors, the perfect start as they smoked 48 in the first 6 overs. They pushed the score to 72 in 8 overs before Faf was dismissed for a well-made 40. The middle order could not build on the start, and a terrible collapse followed the first wicket. From 72/1 the Super Kings slipped to 96/5 with numbers 3,4 and 5 adding 0, 8 and 6 respectively. Mukkamalla was also dismissed in that phase as he departed for 36.
There was a recovery act from Donovan Ferreira as with Wiaan Mulder he added 40 for the 6th wicket. However, once that stand was broken, it was once again all single digits from the lower order as the Super Kings were restricted to 151/8 in 20 overs. Ferreira was the top scorer with 45 next to his name. The pick of the bowlers was Ghulam Mudassar for his 2/30. The chase did not look all that tricky at the halfway stage, but some good bowling could always make it challenging.
That is exactly what came to the party from Amshi de Silva. The young quick bowlers ran through the Unicorns top order. He knocked off Finn Allen for just 3. He returned in his next over to have Lhuan-dre Pretorius caught by Faf at mid off. It was another stunner from the ageless Faf. In the very same over he knocked over Connor Esterhuizen for 4. The Unicorns were down to 37/3 inside 5 overs.
Just as something was building up between Matthew Short and Sanjay Krishnamurthy, Amshi was once again in the act as he nailed a direct hit from the sweeper fence to find Sanjay short of his crease. The wickets regularly fell as Abhimanyu Lamba joined the party by getting Matthew Short for 28 and Hassan Khan for 14 inside the 10th over. The Unicorns were reeling at 80/6 in 10 overs.
Haris Rauf could not make much of an impact with the bat in hand he too was dismissed to bring the score down to 90/7. A short and fiery partnership Hammad Azam and Brody Couch pushed the score to 115 before Azam was knocked over. Couch then added a quickfire 20 with Peter Siddle before he too was undone by a pace off ball. The Unicorns were eventually bundled out for 139 and lost by 22 runs. The pick of the bowlers was Amshi de Silva for his fiery spell of 4-28 in 4 overs.
Matt Short (San Francisco Unicorns Captain): "[Whether they gave too many runs] Yeah, I think so. I mean, they obviously got off to a little bit of a flyer. Their two openers obviously put on a few with no loss of wickets, so they probably set the base there early, but I think we caught it back pretty well. Maybe gave them a few looseners later in their batting innings. Got away from us a little bit, so I think we're probably hoping to chase a little bit less, to be honest.
[About the conditions at Oakland Coliseum and how different it was tonight as compared to the last season] It seemed a little bit drier this year. We saw a lot of the balls sort of skid and stay low. So, leading into the next couple of games here, we're gonna have to adapt and find ways to score runs without the lower bounce.
[Playing in front of home fans] Yeah, it's unbelievable. I mean, cricket in the U.S is obviously taking off a little bit, and it's awesome to see our home fans and call this our base here in the Bay Area. So thank you, everyone, for coming out tonight, and hopefully we see you over the next week or so."
[About the conditions at Oakland Coliseum and how different it was tonight as compared to the last season] It seemed a little bit drier this year. We saw a lot of the balls sort of skid and stay low. So, leading into the next couple of games here, we're gonna have to adapt and find ways to score runs without the lower bounce.
[Playing in front of home fans] Yeah, it's unbelievable. I mean, cricket in the U.S is obviously taking off a little bit, and it's awesome to see our home fans and call this our base here in the Bay Area. So thank you, everyone, for coming out tonight, and hopefully we see you over the next week or so."
Time for the post-match presentations...
Biggest Six of the Day Award: Hassan Khan (96 M six)
Play of the Day Award: Amshi de Silva (for running out Sanjay Krishnamurthy)
Player of the Match: Amshi de Silva
Amshi de Silva (POTM): "[Was it the best day of his career?] I would really want to thank the almighty and yes, I can say that it was the best day of my life so far.
[On his cricket in USA] Actually, it was a tough decision. Initially I was part of the Sri Lanka A squad till 2024. In October 2024 I took the decision to resign from Sri Lanka cricket and move to USA and see what USA cricket has to offer to me.
[On his bowling plans] Actually, it was a simple plan from the team. I really want to thank coach Fleming, captain Faf and vice-captain Donovan. They all asked me to keep it simple, and we had been given a plan for the day. We knew that the wicket is supporting the bowlers and we had a decent score on the board. It turned out to be a good day for the bowlers, so I enjoyed it.
[On the run-out] It was kind of a redemption for me. I dropped a dolly in the last game in Dallas so yeah. I really love to field, and I am happy to pull that off."
[On his cricket in USA] Actually, it was a tough decision. Initially I was part of the Sri Lanka A squad till 2024. In October 2024 I took the decision to resign from Sri Lanka cricket and move to USA and see what USA cricket has to offer to me.
[On his bowling plans] Actually, it was a simple plan from the team. I really want to thank coach Fleming, captain Faf and vice-captain Donovan. They all asked me to keep it simple, and we had been given a plan for the day. We knew that the wicket is supporting the bowlers and we had a decent score on the board. It turned out to be a good day for the bowlers, so I enjoyed it.
[On the run-out] It was kind of a redemption for me. I dropped a dolly in the last game in Dallas so yeah. I really love to field, and I am happy to pull that off."
Faf du Plessis (Texas Super Kings Captain): "[How are you? Are you okay?] Had a stiff back before the game from the other day, missing it, and physio's orders just to try and take it easy in the field. I said it's never gonna happen.
[Was that you taking it easy and leaping like Superman on the field?] Yeah, I was just saying, wow, if I'm on the field, I just don't know a third gear or a second gear. So as the ball was coming, I was like, I'm gonna have to dive here.
[160 was a good score?] Yeah, it's a tricky wicket. I just felt like we needed to put some intensity in the first six because if you let the bowlers bowl on a wicket like that, it can be hard work. The ball was very low, so to get a solid stand, I think that's almost half the challenge when you come here. Last season, with a few games, we lost three or four in the power play, and it's really difficult to come back from that. So to get that start tonight was really important, and then Don (Donovan Ferreira) at the back, that's what Don (Donovan Ferreira) does best.
[About Amshi de Silva] Yeah, and what an athlete, isn't he? Like a guy who runs around, throws himself on the field. But yeah, we were very optimistic about him before the start of the season. The guys were very excited when they got him in the draft. There was some real good chat about him and his potential. And a bowler like that on a wicket like this, it's just a bit skiddy, doesn't get that bounce. If he bowls the right lengths, it's hard work. So I'm very happy for him. He's a great kid.
[On his unbeaten record at Oakland] I didn't know that, but thank you for reminding me. That's a good stat. I remember last year, Nandre and Milne were very efficient in the way they operated on this ground. So hopefully, we've got a bit of confidence again. Actually, Dallas is not that good for us as a home ground, but as a batter, yeah, you've got to be proper on this wicket to get it right."
[Was that you taking it easy and leaping like Superman on the field?] Yeah, I was just saying, wow, if I'm on the field, I just don't know a third gear or a second gear. So as the ball was coming, I was like, I'm gonna have to dive here.
[160 was a good score?] Yeah, it's a tricky wicket. I just felt like we needed to put some intensity in the first six because if you let the bowlers bowl on a wicket like that, it can be hard work. The ball was very low, so to get a solid stand, I think that's almost half the challenge when you come here. Last season, with a few games, we lost three or four in the power play, and it's really difficult to come back from that. So to get that start tonight was really important, and then Don (Donovan Ferreira) at the back, that's what Don (Donovan Ferreira) does best.
[About Amshi de Silva] Yeah, and what an athlete, isn't he? Like a guy who runs around, throws himself on the field. But yeah, we were very optimistic about him before the start of the season. The guys were very excited when they got him in the draft. There was some real good chat about him and his potential. And a bowler like that on a wicket like this, it's just a bit skiddy, doesn't get that bounce. If he bowls the right lengths, it's hard work. So I'm very happy for him. He's a great kid.
[On his unbeaten record at Oakland] I didn't know that, but thank you for reminding me. That's a good stat. I remember last year, Nandre and Milne were very efficient in the way they operated on this ground. So hopefully, we've got a bit of confidence again. Actually, Dallas is not that good for us as a home ground, but as a batter, yeah, you've got to be proper on this wicket to get it right."
The MLC has returned to Oakland, and the bowlers have found some voice. It was one of those days where only some exceptional batting could bail you out as the wicket was tacky and created more of an even contest.
The MLC juggernaut continues and it will return tomorrow with another fixture. It is Washington Freedom versus Seattle Orcas at this very venue. The game will start at 7 AM IST (6:30 PM Local Time), so do join us for its live coverage.
On this note, I, Manan Mehta would like to take your leave alongside my colleagues Karthik Raj and Bishal Mandal. B-byeee!
The MLC juggernaut continues and it will return tomorrow with another fixture. It is Washington Freedom versus Seattle Orcas at this very venue. The game will start at 7 AM IST (6:30 PM Local Time), so do join us for its live coverage.
On this note, I, Manan Mehta would like to take your leave alongside my colleagues Karthik Raj and Bishal Mandal. B-byeee!