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An exciting contest between the Los Angeles Knight Riders and San Francisco Unicorns broke out July 19 at the Grand Prairie Ground in Dallas. Over 400 runs scored in two completed innings as the match turned into an absolute graveyard for the bowlers. The San Francisco Unicorns managed to get back to their winning ways once again while the Los Angeles Knight Riders still await their elusive first MLC victory.
It was a day to forget about Knight Riders shooters. They were taken to the janitors and beaten all over the garden. Matthew Wade turned out to be their opponent when he led them through the first part of the innings. He struck out a fiery 78 (41) with an impressive strike rate of 190.
Marcus Stoinis has also played a delightful 37 (18) innings which included 3 fours and sixes. Decent contributions were made by Corey Anderson (39 out of 20) and Aaron Finch (12 out of 10) which put the unicorn over 200 points. The Knight Riders couldn’t contain the hitters and leaked too many runs inside the first 10 overs. Apart from Spencer Johnson, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, the entire bowling unit seemed to be in shambles.
Ali Khan was costly as he passed 16 RPOs with only one wicket to his name. Adam Zampa picked up three wickets but found himself on the receiving end as well, reaching more than 10 not out. Sunil Narine went around 8.25 RPO and picked the prize wicket from Allen. Johnson was the most economical pitcher with 5.25 ppg without wickets.
Chasing 214 to win, the Knight Riders got off to a solid start off a 19-ball 45 from Roy. Roy’s dismissal slowed the scoring as Onmukt Chand and Nitish Kumar failed to get going. Nitish Kumar played a decent hand of 31 from 23 but Russo and Malhotra left on the cheap. Russell and Narine tried hard adding 75* from 41 but the target was too long for them and they were always behind their asking rate.
Shadab Khan was Rollins’ pick Unicorn with 2 for 26 in his spell. He put the brakes on scoring and picked up the key points for Riley Rosso and Gaskaran Malhotra. Harris Rauf, Bishnoi, and Corey Anderson split one-on-one. The Unicorns are looking good after winning their three matches so far.
Matthew Wade (SFU)
The day belonged to Matthew Mead who fired himself up and scored 78 winners in the match to lay the foundation for a strong total. Knight Riders have smashed bowlers all over the field, especially during the first few overs of the powerplay. He smashed 7 fours and 5 sixes in his innings and was later adjudged player of the match for his stunning knock.
Finn Allen (SFU)
Finn Allen backed up his partner Finch at the other end by building a solid 88-run stand for the first wicket. His scoring rate was rather poor with a shooting average of around 105. He scored 20 (19) before being knocked out by Narine in the eighth.
Marcus Stoinis (SFU)
Stoinis played explosive innings with the bat scoring 37 (18) which included 3 fours and 6 sixes. Together with Wade, the duo sewed a vital 55-run stand for the second wicket in record time. His innings came to an end during the 13th day when he was holed up for Spencer Johnson for a long time. He was rather expensive with the ball, going nearly 10 RPO while going wicketless.
Shadab Khan (SFU)
The multi-talented Pakistani bowler was not having a great day with the bat and only died for 9 (11) to Zampa as he tried to up the ante. However, he was very impressive with the ball delivering a tight spell of 2/26 in an economy of 6.5 RPO which completely derailed Knight Riders during the middle overs.
Aaron Finch (SFU)
Finch didn’t get as many runs as he wanted during his dying spells and ended up scoring 12* in his 10 balls. During his short stay, he broke two boundaries to pull his side over the 210 mark.
Haris Raouf (SFU)
Rauf was again on the higher side conceding 40 in his allotted overs. However, he only managed to remove the dangerous Jason Roy when he was starting to take off. He threw 10 points and gave up 2 and 4 six points his entire spell.
Liam Plunkett (SFU)
Plunkett had a day away with the ball and didn’t complete his full share of overs. He only pitched twice as he gave up 27 runs while walking about 13 RPO. He threw 4 points and gave up 4 boundaries in each of his spells.
Jason Roy (TAKR)
Roy looked to be in very good shape at the top of the standings and went ballistic right off the number one ball. He made his way to a brilliant 45 (21) before being knocked out by Raouf. His innings included 4 fours and 6 sixes. He would be sorely disappointed by missing his half-century. After his dismissal, the Knight Riders could not continue with the same intensity and quickly fell out of the running chase.
Riley Russo (TAKR)
Russo was having a forgettable day with the bat as he faltered again at a time when his team needed him most. He scored 8 assists before being dismissed by Shadab Khan. He struggled to choose different Shadab shapes and later paid a heavy price by gifting wickets cheaply.
Andre Russell (Tucker)
He was the only knight warrior at the top of his game. At the time the bowlers were being batted, he took Stoinis’ prize wicket. He finished with figures of 1/32 before limping off the field. With bat in hand, Russell destroyed the Unicorn pitchers at the end of the offbeat innings scoring 42 (26) with a strike rate of 161.
Sunil Narine (TAKR)
Narine tried to be very neat with the ball as he returned figures of 1/34 in his allotted tally while walking at 8.5 RPO. He turned out to be one of the more economical bowlers for the Knight Riders after the day’s match was over. He battled with Russell to add 75 for the sixth wicket as he scored 28 (17).
Adam Zampa (Tucker)
The Australian bowler had a horrible crush in today’s match as he conceded 41 in his four spell. He has taken the highest number of wickets from a Knight Riders standpoint which features the dismissals of Shadab Khan, Corey Anderson and Tajinder Singh. He didn’t get a chance to bat in today’s match.
Note: The homegrown players who play for Team USA are not mentioned in the article
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