UNICORNS’ MLC 2025 RUN ENDS IN ELIMINATOR AGAINST MI NEW YORK

San Francisco Unicorns, 131 all out (X Bartlett, 44; R Ugarkar, 3/19) lost to MI New York, 132/8 (Q de Kock, 33; H Khan, 4/30) by 2 wickets

San Francisco Unicorns have ended their 2025 Cognizant Major League Cricket campaign with defeat to MI New York in the playoff’s Eliminator match, with the latter chasing down 131 runs with three balls to spare.

Electing to bowl, MI New York got off to a flyer, landing the wickets of both Unicorns openers, Matt Short and Tim Seifert, in the first three overs, with Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Jake Fraser-McGurk, and then Hassan Khan all out in three consecutive balls later in the powerplay, to leave the Unicorns in deep trouble on 16/5 at one point.

A comparative period of quiet followed before Cooper Connolly smacked one to deep square for 23. Xavier Bartlett, who had shown his batting prowess earlier in the tournament, then hit a crucial 44 off 24 balls in partnerships with Hammad Azam (11) and Brody Couch (19) before lofting a Keiron Pollard slower ball to mid-on. Liam Plunkett and Ben Lister tried to play out the full allocation, but the former England World Cup winner holed out for 7 in the last over, leaving MI New York a chase of 132 to continue their playoff run.

The Unicorns, having lost Haris Rauf and Romario Shepherd to recent injuries, couldn’t find the breakthrough in the powerplay, with the New York side ending it on 37 for no loss. Matt Short brought some much needed hope in the seventh over, however, trapping Quinton de Kock in front and then bowling Nicholas Pooran through the gap.

Monank Patel and Michael Bracewell navigated the coming overs at the required rate, with Short and Bartlett breaking the momentum with the wickets of Patel and Pollard, before the Unicorns started to wrestle the game back with some Khan magic. The spinner got the back-to-back wickets of Bracewell and Heath Richards in the 15th, then two more in his next over, leaving a tricky chase of 24 runs from the final three overs, with just two wickets in hand.

A quiet Bartlett over was followed by two Trent Boult sixes in the penultimate, leaving Noshtush Kenjige to take the required single with three balls to come, securing MI New York’s spot in the Qualifier 2 match against Texas Super Kings and ending the San Francisco Unicorns run in MLC 2025.