Sanjay Krishnamurthi, 21, scored a blazing 42-ball 79 not out to power San Francisco Unicorns to a sensational six-wicket win against table-toppers Washington Freedom in a rain-hit match at Major League Cricket 2024.
Rain brings DLS into play
After being asked to bat first, Washington Freedom’s openers Travis Head (56 off 36) and Steve Smith (56 off 31) blasted their way to a 101-run opening stand in just 58 balls.
An unbeaten 29 off 20 from wicketkeeper-batter Andries Gous and Rachin Ravindra’s 16 off six ensured the tempo didn’t fall as they reached 174-3 in 15.3 overs before the sky opened up. The significant rain interruption brought the DLS method into play, with the revised target for the Unicorns being 177 in 14 overs.
Unicorns face early setback
The Unicorns were pushed on the backfoot early, as Akeal Hosein skidded the first ball of the second innings through Fin Allen, whose stumps were rattled in the process.
Allen’s opening partner, Jake Fraser-McGurk, started in his usual kamikaze style, but the blitzkrieg was cut short for a nine-ball 18 after Andrew Tye snared him in the fifth over.
Krishnamurthi and Inglis come to the rescue
Krishnamurthi, coming in at three, Jos Inglis (45 off 17 balls) helped the chasing team claw back into the game, dispatching the Freedom’s bowling attack all over the park. While Krishnamurthi's blistering knock contained six sixes and five fours, Inglis hit six sixes and a four, striking at 264.71.
At one stage, 120 runs were required off the last eight overs with eight wickets in hand. A batting onslaught followed by 22 runs in the 12th and 19 runs in the 13th over, including a hat-trick of fours from Hassan Khan (32 not out off 11), meant the Unicorns needed just three from the last six balls.
A single from Krishnamurthi helped the Unicorns gun down the total quite comfortably with two balls and six wickets remaining. Krishnamurthi was named the Player of the Match.
Despite Washington Freedom's first loss this year, the Steve Smith-led side finished the group stage as the table-toppers. The sides will reconvene again in the Qualifier on Thursday at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
Sanjay Krishnamurthi, take a bow 🙇. What a spectacular inning from the youngster! 🤩. Well deserved @Stake MVP! #MLC2024 | #CognizantMajorLeagueCricket | #T20 pic.twitter.com/qAypZwGjtj
— Major League Cricket (@MLCricket) July 23, 2024
Watch the highlights of WAF v SFU in MLC 2024 here:
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