Dallas, July 21 (IANS): An impressive spell by Hassan Khan and a quick-fire half-century by Finn Allen helped the San Francisco Unicorns to register a six-wicket win over the Seattle Orcas in the Major League Cricket at the Grand Prairie Stadium.
After losing their openers in the first over, Quinton de Kock anchored the innings with 62 off 33 balls, helping the Seattle Orcas post a total of 152/7. However, Finn Allen's explosive 77 off 30 balls took the San Francisco Unicorns to a comfortable six-wicket win.
With this victory, the San Francisco Unicorns remain in second place on the points table with nine points from six matches, while the Seattle Orcas have been officially eliminated from the second season of Major League Cricket.
Already qualified for the playoffs, the San Francisco Unicorns began their run chase of 153 runs at a blistering pace. They smashed 79 runs in the powerplay, thanks to Allen's 21-ball fifty. He struck 26 runs in the fifth over, bowled by Lungi Ngidi, which featured two sixes and three fours.
Matthew Short, on the other hand, was dismissed by Imad Wasim in the seventh over after scoring 19 off 14 balls. Allen continued in the same vein, hitting two sixes off Harmeet Singh before being caught by Ryan Rickelton on the fifth ball of the eighth over. He scored 77 off 30 balls, leaving San Francisco at 98/2 after eight overs.
Unicorns then lost two more wickets in consecutive overs. Sanjay Krishnamurthi was dismissed for 10 off 16 balls in the 13th over, followed by Sherfane Rutherford in the 14th, who scored 17 off 8 balls. However, Josh Inglis and Corey Anderson guided San Francisco to a comfortable six-wicket win with 34 balls to spare.
In a must-win game, the Seattle Orcas faced a disastrous start after being invited to bat first. They lost both openers in the very first over: Ryan Rickelton was caught by Finn Allen on the first ball, and Aaron Jones was trapped lbw by Carmi le Roux.
Despite an early setback, Seattle managed to score 48 runs in the powerplay, thanks to an aggressive counter-attack by Quinton de Kock and Shehan Jayasuriya. They added 34 runs in the last two overs of the powerplay, bringing the score to 48/2.
De Kock reached his half-century off 28 balls by the 10th over. Alongside Jayasuriya, he added 31 runs off Pat Cummins' first two overs, pushing Seattle to 98/2 after 11 overs. However, the momentum shifted dramatically in the 12th over as both De Kock (62 off 33) and Jayasuriya (31 off 33) were dismissed in quick succession by Brody Couch.
Hassan Khan then delivered a decisive blow to Seattle Orcas, as he struck thrice in his two consecutive overs. He dismissed Heinrich Klaasen (8 off 8) in the 14th over, and Harmeet Singh (3 off 7) and Keemo Paul (0 off 1) in the 16th over, reducing Seattle to 116/7.
It was Shubham Ranjane, who came to the rescue as he played a crucial unbeaten knock of 26 runs off 25 balls, helping Seattle post a total of 152/7 in their 20 overs.
Brief scores: San Francisco Unicorns 156/4 in 14.2 overs (Finn Allen 77 off 30, Josh Inglis 24 off 17; Harmeet Singh 2-39) beat Seattle Orcas 152/7 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 62 off 33, Shehan Jayasuriya 31 off 33; Hassan Khan 3-5) by six wickets.