PRETORIUS’ CENTURY AGAINST MI NEW YORK FIRES UNICORNS TO TOP OF MLC TABLE

San Francisco Unicorns, 146/1 (L Pretorius, 102*; M Short, 18*) beat MI New York, 143/9 (R Rickelton, 35; M Short, 3/24), by 9 wickets.

The San Francisco Unicorns remained atop the Major League Cricket standings on Wednesday night as Lhuan-dre Pretorius struck his maiden unbeaten T20 century in a nine-wicket victory over MI New York with 26 balls remaining at Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium.

After winning the toss and electing to bowl first, the Unicorns made an early breakthrough when Matt Short had Quinton de Kock caught by Hassan Khan for six in the third over. Ryan Rickelton countered with 35 from 21 deliveries, but Short struck twice more to remove Monank Patel and Rickelton, reducing MI New York to 56/3 at the end of the powerplay.

Nicholas Pooran and Sunny Patel rebuilt the innings before Brody Couch had Pooran caught behind by Lhuan-dre Pretorius for 19. Anirudh Immanuel then claimed the first wicket of his Major League Cricket career, bowling Kieron Pollard for 16 in just his second tournament appearance.

Sunny Patel top-scored with 32, while Romario Shepherd added an unbeaten 19 from nine deliveries. Matt Short’s three-wicket powerplay spell laid the foundation, while two wickets apiece from Haris Rauf and Aaron Hardie also helped restrict MI New York to 143/9 from 20 overs.

Lhuan-dre Pretorius set the tone for the chase with 14 runs from Trent Boult’s opening over as he and Finn Allen added 52 for the first wicket. Pretorius struck four boundaries and a six during the powerplay before Allen departed for 20, caught by Ryan Rickelton off Romario Shepherd immediately after the fielding restrictions were lifted.

Shepherd followed with a wicket maiden after Matt Short arrived at the crease, but the Unicorns quickly regained control through an unbeaten second-wicket partnership between Pretorius and Short. Pretorius reached his half-century from 31 deliveries before taking 16 runs from Sunny Patel’s 13th over to move the Unicorns within touching distance of victory.

Pretorius finished unbeaten on a career-best 102 from 52 deliveries, striking 10 fours and six sixes, while Short provided support with an unbeaten 19 as the Unicorns reached 146/1 in 15.4 overs. Pretorius brought up his maiden T20 century with the winning boundary to complete the nine-wicket victory.

The result moves San Francisco to 10 points and strengthens its hold on first place in the Major League Cricket standings with two regular-season matches remaining. The Unicorns continue their Dallas leg on Friday against the Texas Super Kings.