MLC 2023: How did the international players fare in San Francisco Unicorns vs Texas Super Kings, Match 14?
The 14th match of the inaugural MLC edition got underway between San Francisco Unicorns and Texas Super Kings on July 25. In this crucial encounter, the Texas Super Kings came on top and booked their place in the playoffs. San Francisco is nearing its end in this tournament and would be hoping for the outcome of the other teams to go their way.
The Unicorns put up a competitive first innings score of 171 riding on the heroics of Matthew Wade (49 off 30) and Chaitanya Bishnoi (35 off 21). San Franciso made an explosive start with the ball picking up two early wickets for just 11 runs on the board.
Church Street Park tonight
Daniel Sams lit up ⚡ 🎆 Church Street Park tonight
He wins the Player of the Match award for his heroics 🔥
#MLC2023 pic.twitter.com/YK8n8Kfa6W
But they were soon to be steamrolled by the heroics of Daniel Sams who launched himself and scored a blistering knock of 42 (18) to get his side over the finishing line with five balls to spare.
On that note, let's take a close look at how the international starts fared in the 14th match of the MLC edition.
Finn Allen (SFU)
Finn perished early on in the innings when he played a false shot to Daniel Sams during the fourth ball of the first over. He holed out to Faf du Plessis at long on for just 4 (3).
Matthew Wade (SFU)
Wade played responsibly and did the bulk of the heavy lifting with his bat scoring 49 (30). He scored at an impressive strike rate of 163.33 and smashed four fours and three sixes. He was dismissed by Santner during the 10th over where he played a lofted shot straight to the hands of Miller at deep mid-wicket.
Marcus Stoinis (SFU)
Stoinis showed some early promise with the bat but was unable to push on any further. He was dismissed by Coetzee on 13 (12) which included three fours. He managed to bowl his full quota of overs but proved to be quite expensive going at 10 RPO while picking up a wicket from Daniel Sams.
Shadab Khan (SFU)
Shadab got a start with the bat but scored at a very lackluster rate of 86.95. He was dismissed on 20 (23) by Santner during the 13th over. He leaked a lot of runs with the ball as well going at more than 11 RPO but did have some success in picking up the two wickets of Devon Conway and Mitchell Santner.
Corey Anderson (SFU)
Corey didn’t get going with the bat and was knocked over by the young Coetzee for 14. He could only smash a solitary six in his entire innings. Corey did not get a chance to contribute with the ball in this game.
Aaron Finch (SFU)
Finch played a very small yet impact cameo of 19 (10) to drag his side over the 170 mark. He smashed three fours in his very short-lived innings and was knocked over by Coetzee during the penultimate over of the first innings.
Liam Plunkett (SFU)
Plunkett scored an unbeaten 2 at the end of the first innings. However, he turned out to be economical with the ball going at just around 6.31 RPO. He picked up the crucial wicket of Miller during the halfway stage of the game.
Haris Rauf (SFU)
Haris scored an unbeaten 6 towards the end of the first innings which involved 1 six. But he delivered a very fine spell with the ball. In his allotted 4 overs, he conceded 32 runs and managed to bowl 12 dot balls. Besides, he also bagged the prize wickets of Cody Chetty and Milind Kumar which temporarily put brakes on the Super Kings’ scoring rate.
Faf du Plessis (TSK)
Faf was dismissed cheaply by le Roux on a duck during the first over of the second innings. He would certainly regret the way he was dismissed as he failed to negotiate a sharp inswinger that came back in a long way to trap him in front.
Devon Conway (TSK)
Conway was looking good and was well on track to notch up yet another big score. But he perished to Shadab on 30 (27) after being undone by a well-disguised tossed-up googly during the 9th over. He smashed three fours and a six in his entire innings.
David Miller (TSK)
Miller also fell quite cheaply to Plunkett while trying to up the ante. He could only accumulate 10 runs in 8 balls which featured only one boundary.
Mitchell Santner (TSK)
Santner bowled a very tidy spell with the ball going at 2/30 in his allotted overs. He kept the run flow in check throughout his spell and conceded only 2 sixes. In addition, he also managed to take two important wickets of Wade and Shadab. However, he failed to perform with the same intensity with the bat and was dismissed on 7(9) by Shadab.
Daniel Sams (TSK)
Sams stole the spotlight in today’s fixture and earned the Player of the Match award for his match-winning heroics. Despite leaking a lot of runs, Sams struck with the ball during the first and the last over of the first innings by removing Allen and Bishnoi.
But his major contribution came with the bat where he played a blinder of an innings scoring 42 (18) at a scintillating strike rate of 233. His innings featured two fours and four sixes. The all-rounder fell to Stoinis in the 19th over, but his knock had already done enough to pave the way for Kings' victory.
Gerald Coetzee (TSK)
The Soth African-born seamer had an impressive outing with the ball as he claimed four wickets for just 31 runs. His dismissals featured some really big names such as Stoinis, Finch, and Anderson. He bowled with control and conceded only three fours and a six.
Note: Domestic players playing for the USA team have been excluded from this article