Unicorns ride on quick Short and McGurk fifties to stay unbeaten

San Francisco Unicorns' batting firepower helped them extend their lead at the top of the MLC 2025 table with a 47-run thumping of MI New York on Monday.

It was their fourth 200-plus score in five games - they had chased down 183 in the other match - and kept them unbeaten in the tournament. Matthew Short continued his rich run of form and so did his countrymate Jake Fraser-McGurk, as they amassed 246 for 4. MINY started well in reply but ran out of steam as the asking rate shot up after the halfway mark once Michael Bracewell and Quinton de Kock fell off consecutive deliveries.

Put in to bat, Unicorns powered to 63 for 0 in the powerplay even though Tim Seifert couldn't quite get off the blocks quickly. He soon fell for 26 off 22 but Short, opening in place of Finn Allen, who was out with an illness, continued to pepper the boundaries, his nonchalant straight sixes one of the highlights of his 22-ball fifty.

Fraser-McGurk unleashed his usual across-the-line swipes and pulls to smoke three sixes in the tenth over - which went for 26 runs - to cross the 100-mark for Unicorns. Their fifty stand came off just 23 balls before Short went after Trent Boult for 19 runs in the 13th over.

Kieron Pollard - playing his 700th T20 game - had Short hole out for 91 off 43, and Fraser-McGurk pummelled three more sixes before he, too, fell to Pollard, who brought out animated celebrations for striking again.

But the wickets hardly mattered to Unicorns; Sanjay Krishnamurthi and Hassan Khan helped them collect 64 runs in the last five overs with unbeaten knocks of 27 off 16 and 31 off nine respectively.

De Kock and Monank Patel did the heavy lifting for MINY at the top with a sets of consecutive fours early on, although they couldn't replicate Unicorns' six-hitting - their first came at the end of the fifth over.

They still hammered 77 in the powerplay and raced past 100 in the ninth for MINY's highest opening stand. Liam Plunkett, however, ended Monank's knock when he dug a slower ball into the pitch which the batter ended up miscuing on the off side, for 60 off 33.

Nicholas Pooran, going through a wretched run of form, continued to struggle for runs. He faced 17 deliveries without hitting a single boundary and failed to score at even a-run-a-ball, as his partnership of 40 off 34 with de Kock saw the asking rate shoot up from nearly 12.50 an over to 17.60 by the time Pooran was caught behind off Haris Rauf. He now has 66 runs from as many balls in five innings this MLC, with just two sixes to his name, not long after he was the top six-hitter in the recent IPL with 40 maximums.

MINY now needed 88 from 29 balls, and out came Pollard. But the twin wickets of de Kock and Bracewell off Romario Shepherd at the start of the 17th over dented their chances heavily. Shepherd missed his hat-trick but the Unicorns attack continued to strike even though Pollard showed glimpses of his power-hitting with two sixes and two fours in the 19th over off Rauf.