San Francisco Unicorns continued their unbeaten streak in the MLC 2025, storming into the playoffs with a convincing 32-run win over the Seattle Orcas in Dallas on Wednesday night. The Unicorns have now won all six of their league games, while the Orcas remain winless, suffering their fifth consecutive defeat and staying rooted at the bottom of the table.
“𝑾𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒘 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏.
Short and Shepherd Build a Solid Foundation
Opting to bat first, Unicorns were rocked early when Finn Allen departed in the second over. But Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk stitched together a 68-run partnership that brought stability and momentum. Fraser-McGurk was dismissed for 34 off 21 by Harmeet Singh, triggering a mini-collapse as the Unicorns slumped from 86 for 1 to 103 for 6.
Short, who hit 7 fours and 2 sixes, contributed a valuable 52 before falling in the same over that saw Harmeet dismiss Hassan Khan as well.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒋𝒐𝒃 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕.
Shepherd’s Fireworks Push Unicorns to 176
Romario Shepherd stepped up under pressure, hammering 56 off just 31 balls including four sixes and four fours. His explosive innings helped push Unicorns to 176 for 8, a total that proved to be more than sufficient. Harmeet Singh (3 for 22) and Gerald Coetzee (3 for 34) were the pick of the bowlers for the Orcas.
“𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔,” 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔.
Orcas Collapse Despite Promising Start
Chasing 177, the Orcas looked promising early on with Shayan Jahangir smashing 40 off 22 balls, taking 29 runs from the first two overs. But Shepherd broke the stand by removing Jahangir in the seventh over.
The next over proved decisive. Short picked up two wickets in quick succession, dismissing both David Warner and Kyle Mayers, halting Orcas’ momentum completely.
“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓,” 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕.
Rauf Cleans Up with Four-Wicket Blitz
The Orcas kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Shimron Hetmyer and Sujit Nayak tried to rebuild but couldn’t handle the pressure. Haris Rauf, who had already dismissed Klaasen, cleaned up the tail with three more wickets, ending with 4 for 32.
He removed Hetmyer, Coetzee, and Cameron Gannon in quick succession, sealing the win for the Unicorns.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏—𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑹𝒂𝒖𝒇 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉-𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍.
A Playoff Spot Secured
With this result, San Francisco Unicorns became the first team to qualify for the MLC 2025 playoffs, while the Seattle Orcas continue their disappointing campaign, still searching for their first win.
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒎. 𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒕,” 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒅.
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