When the two teams meet in Dallas on Saturday, July 20, the San Francisco Unicorns, who have their sights set on a top-two finish, will want to make life more difficult for the Seattle Orcas.
The Unicorns not only have a perfect record of victories at Grand Prairie Stadium in MLC 2024, but they also enter the game with a lot of confidence after winning their last three games and knowing that they will make the playoffs.
The batting and bowling departments would both benefit from their close 3-run victory over MI New York, which put the reigning champions in danger of elimination. After seven overs, MINY had the Unicorns down to 33/5, but a reasonable 148 was achieved thanks to a 37-ball, undefeated 59 by captain Corey Anderson and an 87-run partnership of 44 off 35 with Hassan Khan.
With the help of Matthew Short’s three-fer, the bowling then picked up to secure wickets at crucial junctures for the victory. With two league games remaining, they overcame the scare up top from Dewald Brevis, who at the time of his departure had made 56 of MINY’s 79 runs, and a late counterattack from Heath Richards to help their club win in a last-ball finish and get that ‘Q’ against their name.
Conversely, the Orcas sit at the bottom of the six-team standings, having only managed one victory in their first five games, and are currently experiencing a three-match losing skid that they would be happy to snap.
Also Read: Washington Freedom, undefeated, secure a top-two finish
Orcas have two chances to give themselves the best chance or, at the very least, cap off what has been a forgettable season so far on a high, despite the fact that they are only mathematically hanging in and are relying on more than one favour from other teams in the competition.
When: Saturday, July 20 at 7:30 PM Local | July 21 at 6 AM IST
Where: Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas
What to expect: A cloudy day in store but no rain interruption on the cards. The pitch and conditions have been favourable to the batters here.
Team News
San Francisco Unicorns: With a top-two berth in sight, San Francisco might resist the temptation of resting too many first-choice players.
Probable XI: Finn Allen, Matthew Short, Josh Inglis (wk), Corey Anderson (c), Sherfane Rutherford, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Hassan Khan, Pat Cummins, Liam Plunkett, Haris Rauf, Brody Couch.
Seattle Orcas: They made wholesale changes in their previous outing in a desperate bid to fetch some points but that didn’t go to plan. Safe to say that they’re still struggling to find their most ideal XI.
Probable XI: Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock (wk), Shehan Jayasuriya, Aaron Jones, Michael Bracewell, Heinrich Klaasen (c), Keemo Paul, Harmeet Singh, Cameron Gannon, Lungi Ngidi, Ali Sheikh.
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