Major League Cricket: Washington Freedom beats San Francisco Unicorns by 30 runs
Jul 23, 2023
North Carolina [US], July 23 : The Washington Freedom moved to the second spot on the points table after defeating San Francisco Unicorns by 30 runs in Major League Cricket at Church Street Park, Morrisville on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Unicorns remained in fourth place with two wins from four matches. The Washington Freedom posted a total of 133/8 in their 20 overs before bowling out the Unicorns for 103.
According to the press release, Finn Allen got the San Francisco Unicorns off to a flying start with three boundaries off Marco Jansen's bowling in the first over. However, Anrich Nortje sent Allen packing for 13 runs off 9 balls in the third over. Saurabh Netravalkar made matters worse for the Unicorns when he dismissed Marcus Stoinis and Shadab Khan in the fourth over.
Netravalkar picked up the wicket of Matthew Wade as well, leaving the Unicorns in deep trouble at 31/4. Corey Anderson played a fighting run-a-ball knock of 34 runs, but he didn't receive any support from the other end as the Unicorns folded for 103 in 19.5 overs. Netravalkar was the star bowler of the night with a magnificent spell of 6/9.
Earlier in the day, San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and put the Washington Freedom into bat. Andries Gous struck two boundaries off Carmi le Roux's bowling as the Washington Freedom reached 21/0 in three overs. However, Haris Rauf didn't let the Unicorns run away with the momentum as he trapped Gous LBW for 23 runs off 16 balls in the fourth over.
Thereafter, the Unicorns had reduced Washington Freedom to 33/4 after dismissing Matthew Short, Glenn Phillips and Mukhtar Ahmed in quick succession. But Captain Moises Henriques and Obus Pienaar strung a partnership of 40 runs from 37 balls to take Washington Freedom to 73/5 in 12.2 overs.
The Washington Freedom kept losing wickets at regular intervals, however, Marco Jansen and Dane Piedt struck three boundaries in the last few overs to help their team put up a fighting total in their 20 overs.
Brief Scores: Washington Freedom 133/8 (Moises Henriques 30, Obus Pienaar 29, Haris Rauf 3/20) beat San Francisco Unicorns 103 all out (Corey Anderson 34, Chaitanya Bishnoi 16, Saurabh Netravalkar 6/9) by 30 runs.
