UNICORNS’ UNBEATEN RUN FALLS AGAINST WASHINGTON FREEDOM

San Francisco Unicorns, 157/9 (M Short, 67; M Owen, 17/5) lost to Washington Freedom, 169/5 (G Phillips, 58; X Bartlett, 32/5) by 12 runs

The San Francisco Unicorns succumbed to their first loss of the 2025 Cognizant Major League Cricket season, having failed to chase down a winning total of 170 runs against a Washington Freedom bowling attack that stifled the league leaders with smart bowling on an evolving wicket.

Having lost the toss and been put into field first, the Unicorns got off to an electric start with the ball in hand. Xavier Bartlett took the prize wicket of Mitchell Johnson first ball, with some extra bounce forcing a thick top edge to Matt Short at extra cover. Freedom were in more trouble three balls later as Andries Gous edged one through to first slip for one.

Rotating back in after a controlled Brody Couch over, Bartlett grabbed his third as Rachin Ravindra put one up to Haris Rauf at mid off for nine, bringing captain Glenn Maxwell to the crease earlier than anticipated with Freedom on 13/3. MLC’s leading wicket taker Haris Rauf offered no mercy in the next, popping one up to lure the Australian power hitter into a pull that only found Sanjay Krishnamurthi in the deep.

Ending the powerplay on 37-4, the Washington side brought back an element of calm to the innings with Glenn Phillips and Jack Edwards moving the score past fifty in their eighth over, and then navigating the middle overs without further loss.

Boundaries remained a rarity – with Krishnamurthi responsible for a particularly acrobatic boundary save – as Freedom clawed past hundred at just over a run a ball, but the partnership of Phillips and Edwards was a constant and offered some hope of late innings acceleration.

Aiming to unsettle the pair, Bartlett returned to the fold and continued where he had left off, taking his fourth of the match with Edwards (42) holing out to Jake Fraser-McGurk in the deep. The scoreboard pressure prompted Phillips to up the ante from here on in, passing his half century with a whip over deep mid wicket.

Fraser-McGurk then took one of the catches of the tournament, diving forwards to a powerful Phillips heave (58) to give Romario Shepherd his first wicket of the match, while putting the brakes on what was looking to be a late Freedom charge. Pienaar was joined by Mukhtar Ahmed at the crease, with the pair taking 15 off the penultimate Bartlett over, and then 18 crucial runs off Rauf’s last to leave the Freedom with a defendable total of 169/5.

The Unicorns’ openers batted patiently against smart bowling early in the powerplay, settling in before Matt Short powered three consecutive boundaries off of Saurabh Netravalkar in the fifth. Finn Allen, struggling for timing, was then bowled by Amila Aponso for seven next over, leaving the chase on 52-1.

Fraser-McGurk (3) then saw his stumps shattered by one that turned and stayed low while trying to loft Ravindra over mid wicket. Krishnamurthi joined the hunt, settling in quickly alongside his captain, with the pair taking Ravindra for 23 in his next over. Short continued his fine form to make his fourth half century in a row, before teeing one up for Edwards to catch off Mitchell Owen’s first over, sending him back to the dugout for 67.

Regular wickets were the order of the day for Freedom, and they got just that with Owen landing the back-to-back wickets of Khan, caught for seven, and then new man Shepherd top-edging behind for a golden duck, leaving the game in the balance with the Unicorns on 105-5, in need of 65 with seven overs remaining.

The game then drifted away from the Unicorns with Bartlett (1) coming up short of the long on rope during a miserly Edwards over, with Krishnamurthi out soon after for 24, caught Phillips, bowled Holland. Jahmar Hamilton and Haris Rauf looked to take the game on, only for Mitchell Owen to all but end the contest, earning his five-for with the wickets of the Pakistani paceman and Brody Couch, with Netravalkar safely closing the innings out to leave the Unicorns 12 runs adrift for their first loss of the season.

San Francisco Unicorns remain top of the table with six wins from seven, with Washington Freedom now level on points but behind on net run rate in second. They will play Seattle Orcas and Texas Super Kings in their next respective matches as MLC 2025 concludes its league phase at the Broward County Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.