San Francisco Unicorns maintained their unbeaten streak in MLC 2025 with a dominant seven-wicket win over Texas Super Kings, chasing down 199 with ease thanks to explosive fifties from Finn Allen and Matthew Short. Their chase eclipsed a brilliant century from Faf du Plessis, who fought a lone battle with a 51-ball ton.
Du Plessis Shines, But Lacks Support
After being asked to bat first, Texas Super Kings put up a solid total of 198 for 5, largely on the back of du Plessis’ sensational 100 off 51 balls, laced with six fours and seven sixes. He was the anchor in two strong stands — a 97-run opening partnership with Devon Conway and a 69-run stand with Saiteja Mukkamalla.
But Conway’s sluggish 23 off 23 and the quick dismissals of Mukkamalla (38), du Plessis, and Marcus Stoinis in the space of eight deliveries — triggered by Xavier Bartlett and Haris Rauf — stunted their momentum just when they were aiming for a 200-plus total.
“𝑭𝒂𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎,” 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒚𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕-𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘.
Allen and Short Dismantle the Target
San Francisco’s response was a masterclass in aggressive T20 batting. Short took off from the first ball, racing to 33 off 16 even before Allen got going. Allen joined the party in the fourth over, and from there, boundaries flowed relentlessly.
The opening pair raced to 83 in the powerplay, and by the time Short was dismissed for 61 off 29 balls, the Unicorns were cruising at 117. Allen went on to make 78 in 35 deliveries, punishing anything short or wide with clean hits.
“𝑶𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑. 𝑰𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒏 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒌.
Unicorns Stay Perfect in MLC 2025
Jake Fraser-McGurk added a steady 37 off 25 to take the side home with 23 balls to spare, marking Unicorns’ fourth win in a row and keeping them atop the MLC standings. Texas Super Kings, despite their strong start to the season, suffered their first defeat, slipping just below Unicorns on the table.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒑 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒚. 𝑾𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕-𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉.