In a thrilling low-scoring encounter at Lauderhill, San Francisco Unicorns edged past Texas Super Kings by just one run, maintaining their position atop the MLC 2025 points table. The Unicorns posted 148 for 6, thanks to captain Matthew Short’s commanding 80 runs, while Texas managed 147 for 7 in a tense chase.
Match Summary: A Nail-Biting Finish
Chasing 149 to win, Texas Super Kings needed 13 runs off the final over with Calvin Savage at the crease. However, Savage faced only one ball from Xavier Bartlett. Despite teammate Mohammad Mohsin hitting two crucial boundaries, the chase came down to needing three runs from the last ball. Bartlett delivered a low full-toss, forcing the batsmen to scramble for runs, but Savage was run out attempting a second run to tie the match.
Bartlett’s calm under pressure secured the victory for the Unicorns, who now have 14 points from nine games. Meanwhile, Texas slipped to third place with 12 points from the same number of matches.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆. “𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕’𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.”
Key Performances and Turning Points
Captain Matthew Short was the backbone of the Unicorns’ innings, scoring a well-paced 80 off 63 balls, including five fours and four sixes. Early wickets fell quickly, leaving Short to build partnerships with Hassan Khan and others. Hassan contributed a quick 40 off 25 balls in a crucial 69-run stand with Short, helping the Unicorns reach a defendable total.
On the bowling side, Marcus Stoinis was influential, taking three wickets including two early scalps in the powerplay. Brody Couch also impressed by removing key openers du Plessis and Smit Patel within the first four overs, putting pressure on the Super Kings.
Despite valiant efforts from Stoinis (34) and Donovan Ferreira (39), Texas could not quite finish the job. Bartlett’s nerves of steel in the final moments were decisive.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕. “𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆.”
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