UNICORNS WIN LAST OVER THRILLER AGAINST SEATTLE ORCAS
San Francisco Unicorns, 192/8 (LD Pretorius, 87; M Stoinis, 19/2) beat to Seattle Orcas, 191 all out (S Jahangir, 62; B Couch, 41/3) by 2 wickets
The San Francisco Unicorns landed their second victory of Major League Cricket 2026, chasing down a challenging Seattle Orcas total with just two balls to spare in what was a thrilling contest at the Oakland Coliseum.
Having been put into field by Orca’s captain Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett took the new ball in his first appearance for the Unicorns this year, with Haris Rauf his pace partner from the other end. The fireworks started in an expensive third over of Brody Couch, with Shayan Jahangir smashing two sixes and a four.
Debutant Aaron Hardie went for a similar fate in his first over – going for 24 – with form batsman and former Unicorn Tim Seifert in the boundaries. The Kiwi was out next over though, prodding one straight back to Bartlett for 32, but new man in Matthew Breetzke helped the Orcas to an imposing total of 83/1 after the powerplay.
Jahangir passed fifty in the eighth over from just 20 balls before Ghulam Mudassar had him caught for 62 in his first set, bringing Shimron Hetmyer to the middle. Short halted the momentum in the eleventh over, with just three from it, while Breetzke kicked on to make his half century soon after.
Couch then had Hetmyer (3) and Breetzke (51) caught, with new man Stoinis (1) then going to the same fate against Ghulam, before Dasun Shanaka smashed one straight to Short at cover for Couch’s third wicket. The Unicorns’ captain brought himself back on next over and claimed two wickets in as many balls, sending Harmeet Singh (2) and Cameron Gannon back to the dugout.
Bartlett and Rauf finished the comeback, taking a wicket apiece to end the Orcas innings on 191 all out, leaving a sizable chase but one that was much more manageable than the early batting heroics suggested.
That task was made all the more difficult when Finn Allen tickled a pull shot behind for a duck off Stoinis’ first over. Short and Lhuan-dre Pretorius kicked on with regular boundaries, before the Unicorns’ captain miscued one to mid-off for 10. Sanjay Krishnamurthi was Stoinis’ second wicket, skying one up for a simple keeper take on three.
Pretorius led the Unicorns’ charge as they ended the powerplay on 51 for three, going on to bring up his third fifty in four matches in the eighth over. Hardie then joined the party, plundering a couple of sixes off Stoinis after a steady start to keep the home side with the required rate.
The settled partnership was broken when Hardie holed out to the boundary rope on 28, bringing in Hammad Azam with the game finely balanced. He was out two balls later, trapped in front by Shanaka without scoring. The key wicket of Pretorius then fell to Cameron Gannon, caught on 87 with 56 runs still required.
Bartlett started promisingly before being run out on 13 from a Harmeet Singh direct hit. Hassan Khan was then caught on the boundary on 16, leaving Rauf and Couch the chase responsibilities with just two wickets remaining.
With 23 needed from the final two overs, Couch continued where he left off in his previous innings, flicking Ottneil Baartman for six behind square, then hitting a maximum and a four to tie the scores with three balls to come. A single off the next took the Unicorns over the line and earning their second win of MLC 2026.
San Francisco Unicorns play their final league game at the Oakland Coliseum against Washington Freedom on Sunday, while Seattle Orcas play LA Knight Riders next.
