The San Francisco Unicorns collected their second victory and moved to the third spot on the points table after defeating Los Angeles Knight Riders by 21 runs in Major League Cricket at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas on Tuesday. However, the Knight Riders are yet to register a victory in the competition and are currently at the bottom of the points table. The Unicorns posted 212/7 in their 20 overs before restricting the Los Angeles Knight Riders to 191/5.
The Knight Riders’ opening batter Jason Roy struck a six and a four off Carmi le Roux’s bowling in the very first over. Roy looked in terrific touch as he continued to hit boundaries and sixes for his side, however, he was bowled out by Haris Rauf for 45 runs from 21 balls in the fifth over. Soon after, Unmukt Chand also followed his opening partner back to the pavilion after he was dismissed by Chaitanya Bishnoi for 20 runs off 17 balls.
Nitish Kumar struck three consecutive boundaries off Corey Anderson’s bowling before he was dismissed for 31 off 23 balls in the eleventh over. Thereafter, the Knight Riders were reeling at 116/5 after losing Rilee Rossouw and Jaskaran Malhotra in quick succession. Andre Russell and Sunil Narine smashed two boundaries and seven sixes in the last few overs, but the Unicorns stayed ahead in the game throughout the innings.
Earlier in the day, San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to bat first. Matthew Wade got the Unicorns off to a flying start with a six and a four in the second over. Wade continued to strike the ball beautifully as he smashed four boundaries and two sixes in the sixth over. Finn Allen also joined the party as he hit Adam Zampa for a six and a four to take the Unicorns to 87/0 in seven overs. However, Captain Sunil Narine found the first breakthrough for the Knight Riders when he dismissed Allen for 20 runs off 19 balls in the eighth over.
But, Marcus Stoinis kept the momentum on the San Francisco Unicorns’ side as he struck three maximums and a boundary off Zampa to take his team to 113/1 in nine overs. Stoinis found two more boundaries before he was sent back to the pavilion by Andre Russell for 37 runs off 18 balls. Matthew Wade fell to Ali Khan for 78 runs off 41 balls soon after, however, Corey Anderson’s blistering innings of 39 runs from 20 deliveries, laced with three boundaries and three sixes, took the Unicorns to a formidable total of 212/7 in their 20 overs.
Brief Scores: San Francisco Unicorns 212/7 (Matthew Wade 78, Corey Anderson 39, Adam Zampa 3/41) beat Los Angeles Knight Riders 191/5 (Jason Roy 45, Andre Russell 42*, Shadab Khan 2/26) by 21 runs.