Sanjay Krishnamurthi played a scorching knock of 79 not out from only 42 balls as he helped San Francisco Unicorns crush Washington Freedom by six wickets (DLS method) and become the table-toppers. The match was hosted at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Tuesday after it was interrupted by rain.
Unicorns put them to bat first and the openers – Travis Head (56 off 36 balls) and captain Steve Smith (56 off 31 balls) – gave them a solid start, taking their tally to 101 for no loss. They got to 174 for the loss of three wickets in just 15.3 overs before rains came down.
Following a delay because of rain and application of Duckworth-Lewis system, Unicorns had been set a target of reaching 177 runs in fourteen overs.
They suffered an early blow when Finn Allen went for a golden duck off the very first ball. Lightning Jake Fraser-McGurk amassed eighteen runs off nine deliveries before his departure.
Sanjay Krishnamurthi and Josh Ingles (45 off 17balls) then took charge, destroying Freedom’s bowling attack. Krishnamurthi blasted sixes-6 fours-5 for his explosive innings while Inglis smashed sixes-6 fours-1 with a remarkable strike rate of 264.71 which is almost unbelievable. The Unicorns reached their target within just thirteen point four overs.
Krishnamurthi emerged man-of-the-match following his impressive performance throughout the tournament
“I chose to be aggressive right from the beginning today, I took my chances and it paid off well today,” he said after steering his team through this memorable victory. The pitch wasn’t turning much for left-arm spinners so I relaxed,” said he, leading his side to victory.
This defeat saw Washington Freedom lose their first game in this tournament.
However, Steve Smith’s team finished at the top of the table despite this loss.
On Thursday (July 25) at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Washington Freedom will meet San Francisco Unicorns again in the Qualifier.
