A thrilling Challenger match at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas witnessed San Francisco Unicorns’ bowlers holding their nerves to clinch a 10-run victory over Texas Super Kings, thus book their place in the final of Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024. Consequently, they will now face Washington Freedom for the trophy on Monday.
Coerced into batting first and riding on an outstanding century from Finn Allen, Unicorns went ahead to set a daunting target of 200/6. Allen’s explosive 101 off 53 balls, featuring five sixes and nine fours made up Unicorns’ innings. Further boosts were given by Josh Inglis (27 off 15) and Hassan Khan (37 not out off 25).
The Super Kings got off to a flier; with their skipper Faf du Plessis scoring quickfire 45 from just twenty-two balls during the powerplay while Devon Conway was unbeaten on sixty-two runs that came from thirty-eight balls. The team fell short despite a fifty five run opening stand and Conway forming an unbroken partnership of one hundred with Joshua Tromp’s score of 56*. They finished at190/4 after completing twenty overs.
The Unicorns’ captain Corey Anderson appreciated his team’s overall performance as he focused on how significant individual contributions were towards their victory.
“Times different people have chipped in, we’ve had guys put their hands up at crucial times that have won us games. Obviously someone getting a hundred is awesome but we’ve been great as a unit,” said Anderson.
He also recognized Drysdale’s role and complimented Cummins and Rauf for sticking to their game plan.
“They’re both world class bowlers, they know what they want to do so I can totally trust them to deliver. He was incredible tonight won us moments in the middle (about Drysdale), underdone coming into the competition but has improved as he has played more games,” said Anderson.
Faf du Plessis admitted that his team didn’t perform to their potential and they missed opportunities. “I think we weren’t at our best at the start. The first 45 minutes, Finn Allen played well, but we were soft, both teams fielding was bad. You can’t give a player like him a chance,” he noted. He also talked highly of Tromp’s efforts and wished him some confidence for subsequent games.
His outstanding century that proved game changing in such a high stakes match earned Finn Allen the Player of the Match award. Speaking after the match, Allen expressed his satisfaction with the performance and anticipation for the final.
“It was anyone’s game; we knew what Texas’ batting line-up is like, nice to be there on Sunday in the final. It was a quality knock from Devon (Conway), he keeps racking up runs in tournament after tournament and it wasn’t a surprise to see him score today,” Allen said.
San Francisco Unicorns lost by seven wickets against Washington Freedom in Qualifier and now gets an opportunity to claim revenge and become champions.
