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Unicorns Edge MI New York in Last Ball Thriller to Secure Playoff Spot

San Fransisco Unicorns guaranteed their place in the Major League Cricket playoffs with a tense last ball win over MI New York in Texas.

Having won the toss, captain Corey Anderson chose to bat in their return to the Grand Prairie Stadium on what looked like a good wicket, with Washington Freedom scoring 182/5 on it earlier in the week.

Matt Short opened for the first time alongside Kiwi Finn Allen for the Unicorns, with the latter losing his wicket to the third ball of the innings to a spectacular caught and bowled by Noshtush Kenjige, bringing Sanjay Krishnamurthi early to the crease.

The American followed Allen back to the dugouts in the next over, edging behind to a Trent Boult scramble seam. The Unicorns were put into even deeper trouble with Matt Short clean bowled by Kenjige just a few balls later, bringing Sherfane Rutherford into the match for his debut for the San Francisco side.

A brief period of calm was soon extinguished with Josh Inglis going down to another sharp catch in the field in the sixth over, with Rutherford then run out for 14 an over later, leaving the Unicorns on 33/5 and in serious trouble.

Corey Anderson and Hassan Khan steadied the ship in the middle overs, plundering singles and regular boundaries to take them to the team’s hundred for no further loss, before Khan was bowled by Rashid Khan for a key contribution of 44, breaking the recovery partnership of 87 runs.

The Unicorns went on to post what looked to be a sub-par 148/7 off their allotted overs, with Pat Cummins offering a 13-run late cameo and Anderson ending not out on 59 from 37 balls.

Brody Couch opened the bowling alongside Matt Short against the opening pair of Dewald Brevis and Ruben Clinton, with the Unicorns needing both early wickets and to quash the run rate if they were to stand a chance of defending their total. 

An early wicket is what they got, with Josh Inglis instructing his captain to review a possible caught behind off Short in the second over. The wicketkeeper’s hunch was correct, with Clinton given out for a six-ball duck.

Nicholas Pooran joined Brevis in the middle, with the pair steering MI New York to 79 before the latter was victim of another successful Unicorns review, having edged behind to Brody Couch. DRS was put into action once again a few overs later, with Kieron Pollard given out LBW following an initial not out decision on-field.

Short took the next wicket of Shepherd in the fifteenth, with Khan backing up his batting display with a wicket of his own the next over, when Monank Patel was caught for five. 

With New York still very much in the game, requiring 25 off the final two overs, Pat Cummins showed his death bowling prowess to limit the batting side to just five runs off the penultimate set of six and a final over target of 20 runs.

Haris Rauf took the honours, only to be hit for sixes off the first and fifth ball of the over, leaving the Unicorns in a nervous position, leading by just three runs off the final ball. Rauf held his nerve to trap Heath Richards LBW off the last, sending the Unicorns’ players into a state of relief and elation.

The last ball victory puts the Unicorns into the playoff places with two games remaining against Seattle Orcas and top of the table Washington Freedom, with MI New York dropping to fifth position behind the LA Knight Riders with just one match to play.

Brief Scores: San Francisco Unicorns 148/7 (Corey Anderson, 59*; Noshtush Kenjige, 2/13) beat MI New York 145/7 by 3 runs (Dewald Brevis, 56; Matthew Short, 3/27)

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