MLC 2023 | Victorious Unicorns - San Francisco Puts on a Run Clinic, Defeating MI New York by 22 Runs

San Francisco won their first match in MLC 2023 (Source: Twitter)

The second match of the MLC went underway at the Grand Prairie stadium in Texas where the match ended with the San Francisco Unicorns dominating the MI New York by 22 runs. The Unicorns were struggling at one stage with a score of 50-4 after 7 overs but the pair of Corey Anderson and Shadab Khan had other plans and got their side to a huge total of 215. 

In spite of the brilliant half century from David and some Explosive 40+ scores from Skipper Kieron Pollard and Nicholas Pooran, MI New York could not achieve the massive target that was set by the Unicorns and fell short by 22 runs with the Unicorns pace attack consisting of Liam Plunkett, Carmi Le Roux and Haris rauf held their nerve in the important stages of the game.

Corey Anderson's Dominance Crushes Mi New York's Bowlers

Corey’s Runs against each opponent bowler

With losing their top 4 batsmen cheaply it was looking difficult for the Unicorns to come back after that mini collapse. The innings of Corey Anderson made a huge impact in their innings. His innings of 91 from 52 balls consisting of 4 fours and 7 sixes with a phenomenal strike rate of 175 was enough to get them to more than just a respectable total. It was also impressive to see how he dominated the MI New York bowling attack that was looking good. 

The bowler he enjoyed playing was Kagiso Rabada against whom he scored 25 runs from 11 balls at a strike rate of 227.3. He also took his chances against Sarabjit Ladda who was struggling with his line and length scoring 16 runs of his 11 balls at a strike rate of 145.5. He also didn’t shy away from Pollard by striking at 166.7 and scoring 15 from the 9 balls he faced. He looked extremely comfortable against his former Kiwi teammate Trent Boult and Ehsan Adil who he was striking at 160+ in 6 balls he faced from each of them. 

The only bowler he failed to dominate was Steven Taylor who he was striking at 114.3. Overall it was an innings of sheer brilliance from Anderson where he took on any delivery which was slightly shorter and in the slot. With his amazing comeback in this game after 2017 it will be interesting to see what he has in store for the rest of the tournament in the future.

Conclusion

In conclusion this was another game that was mostly one sided. The Unicorns made a fantastic comeback to reach a match winning total of 215 with the 100+ 5th wicket partnership which changed the game completely. To chase down a 200+ score in a T20 game it is important for the team chasing to have a strong start at the top. With MI New York losing early wickets at the start made it tougher for the other batsmen down the order to save the match. 

It is also important to mention the MI New York bowling attack who after a good first 10 overs gave away 136 runs in the last 10 which also included 64 in the last 5 overs which was just rubbing salt on the wounds of the MI New York bowlers. The lack of another attacking spinner and terrible death bowling is something Mi New York should look into going forward in this tournament.