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So that concludes our coverage of this contest. There's a cracking game lined up on Monday as well though (post midnight if you're in the subcontinent) as Washington Freedom face Texas Super Kings in Morrisville. We'll be back for our coverage of that contest and a lot more right here on Sportskeeda so do return for the same. For now though, this is the duo of Lavil and Sooryanarayanan taking your leave. Thank you so much for tuning in today. See you around soon. Buh-bye for now!
That's some start that the Unicorns have made as they consign the LA Knight Riders to their first defeat. They've made an early statement about the brand of cricket they are likely to play this tournament and the rest of the competition will surely have to be on top of their strategizing to get the better of them alright. The Knights have some thinking to do after a defeat like this but they must not panic considering that it's just their first loss.
Corey Anderson (San Francisco Unicorns captain): You always dream of starts like that in a franchise comp. It was nice to watch Finn get into it and play shots like that. The boundaries aren't big. The wind gets up here too and the ball just seems to travel. It just feels like the ball just carries and sits up in the wicket too. It's ideal to chase but we have to do our job with the ball as well and the bowlers were fantastic to pick up wickets early on. The great thing about our lineup is you don't have to talk to the guys at the top. The way they play their game, you want to utilize their talent as well as possible. You want them to express themselves. It won't always come off but like they did today they'll blow teams out of the water. Rauf is world-class - he's one of the best in the world. Brody's been top-class - whenever your domestic players step up it makes things better.
Sunil Narine (LA Knight Riders captain): I think when we got it we knew we had to take early wickets. I think we fell 15-20 runs short but in saying that, they came in and took the game away from us. You have to just think about your game plan and think of taking a wicket. I think we bowled well but we could have bowled better and taken some more wickets. It's upon the batters I think - they just have to dig deep. We still got 160 odd in the two games so we're not far off. If we get that we can put up a better total. It was about game plans and some matchups (in him not bowling earlier). I back myself in whatever decision I make. It didn't work today but hopefully it works next time.
Finn Allen is the player of the match, here is what he has to say: It was good, probably took a bit too long to get used to the pace of the wicket but will keep that in mind when we come back here. Me and Jake were planning to come out hard. Shorty batted well, he took some pressure off me
Matthew Short (San Francisco Unicorns): Always good to start off with a win. I was trying to play my natural game be it the first ball or the 10th ball. It is pretty nerve-wracking to bat out in the middle, we want to be fearless throughout, and Watto (Shane Watson) wants to play like that. That is just the nature of the franchise tournaments. We love being together, joking in the dressing room about hitting a few long sixes and enjoying each other's company. There hasn't been much cricket here, maybe a little bit of a dew factor and got the better of the conditions. We restricted their power hitters and did well to restrict them to 165.
Match Summary: San Francisco Unicorns beat Los Angeles Knight Riders by 4 wickets with 28 deliveries to spare!
Finn Allen 63 (37) | Brody Couch 2/24 (4) Andre Russell 40* (25) | Spencer Johnson 3/36 (4)
My word, have we witnessed a hitting display of the highest quality or what! They came, they saw and they smacked the living daylights out of this white cherry. The San Francisco Unicorns were always a force to reckon with for their fearsome power-hitters and they have announced themselves to the Major League Cricket 2024 in grand style.
166 wasn't going to be a walk in the park but the Unicorns clearly doused those notions, swinging for the bleachers from the word go. Jake Fraser-McGurk couldn't take off as he nicked a pull behind with DRS overturning the on-field call, even as the batter himself was left surprised by the spike that showed up. That didn't stop Matthew Short from getting underway with a six first ball and that was as good an indicator as any as to what was to come.
Finn Allen was in a menacing mood, plundering the ball over the fence perhaps in a bid to match Andre Russell's gigantic hit from the first innings. There was a phase in the powerplay where he struck five sixes off five consecutive deliveries spread across two overs. Short joined the party himself and both batters were keen to operate in sixth gear alone - quite literally so as they clobbered the ball all around the park, making a mockery of the target in the process as they raised rapid half-centuries en route to a century-plus partnership that brought the asking rate down to under a run-a-ball within no time.
It was bizarre that Sunil Narine did not turn to himself in the powerplay when the batters were going hammer and tongs at everything. It was even more surprising considering that spin was the matchup to play against Allen and Short although Shakib Al Hasan was one of many bowlers who had to bear the wrath of that destructive partnership. Spencer Johnson was the only bowler in fact who walked away with a performance of note, snagging three wickets to build upon a good start a couple of days ago.
It was Narine who eventually broke that stand of 116 before Spencer Johnson dismissed Allen. But it was all but a bonus for the Knights with the damage done well in advance. A thumping victory for the Unicorns and Corey Anderson's men have set the ball rolling in style with 28 deliveries to spare. Stick around for the presentations...
And that is that! If there ever had to be a way to announce yourself to the competition, it can't possibly be better than what the Unicorns have done today. What a terrific performance this has been in their opening fixture of the tournament!
15.2 Ali Khan to Hassan Khan, UNICORNS WIN! Too short from Khan and it goes over the head of Unmukt Chand behind the sticks. The pair take a single and end the game. San Francisco Unicorn beat the Los Angeles Knight Riders by 6 wickets!
15.1 Ali Khan to Hassan Khan, back of a length delivery on the off stump. Khan pushes it back to the bowler. No run