MI New York vs San Francisco Unicorns, 23rd Match, Major League Cricket 2026 - CommentaryMINY vs SFU, 23rd Match, Major League Cricket 2026 - Commentary

The Unicorns have topped the table with this dominant win. They now have a great chance of finishing in the top two for two shots at the final. It was a testing pitch today. Had something in it to keep all facets of the game in play. With the heat around, expect nothing different tomorrow as well. The Knight Riders need a win to stay afloat as they take on the Freedom. We will be back for that game. Join us on the journey. Goodnight!

Matthew Short | Unicorns captain: (What were you most pleased with?) Yeah, good start with the ball there, wickets in the powerplay. That's always something that we're striving for just to try and put the opposition on the back foot early. So we ticked that box and then, the two openers there to lay the base there for us was really handy and sort of made my job really easy. (On Anirudh Immanuel) Yeah, massive for him. And he's been pretty crook all day, so he's been on his sick bed. Yeah, he's an interesting character. He's pretty quiet, but yeah, he's very skillful. I faced him a couple of times in the nets and found him pretty tough. But yeah, huge credit to him. He bowled well tonight and it's nice to see him get his first wicket. (Lhuan-dre Pretorius) Yeah, he's unbelievable. Keeps performing, keeps making my job easier, as I said. Yeah, a bit of a strange one there. I wanted to mention, if you want the 100 and just let me knock him around, but I couldn't really middle it anyway (smiles), so... Nah, credit to him. I don't think he missed the middle of that tonight. Yeah, he's a special talent. (On finishing in the top two) Yeah, absolutely. Obviously, finals is the main goal, sneak in there. But now I guess top two is probably on the cards and get us to San Francisco and get us in front of our home fans and, yeah, go from there.

Lhuan-dre Pretorius | PoTM: (First time getting to three figures. What did that feel like?) Well, firstly on my mind was getting the team over the line and winning the game, but I would be lying if I said the 100 didn't play in the back of my mind because I've fallen short a couple times. But yeah, it was good fun and I'm really happy we got the win. (I think you've got a 97 and a 98 in this format, if I remember correctly. The 98 in the SA20, you ran out of balls. It wasn't a question of running out of balls this evening, you might have run out of runs you needed to do. What was the conversation with the skipper?) We just joked about it, no, actually. We didn't really talk about it at all. But at the back of my mind I really wanted the 100. But the most important part was to get the team over the line and I'm glad we could do it. And yeah, I'm a believer if it's meant to be, it's meant to be, and luckily it was meant to be tonight. (On team topping the points table and him topping the batting charts) Yeah, really good. It's one of the best environments I've played cricket in. I haven't played in a lot of teams yet, but yeah, it's one of the best environments, if not the best, I've been a part of. And yeah, I'm really grateful to be here. It's so much fun. (On hitting big sixes today) I was actually using Finn's (Finn Allen) bat. I think if I used my own bat I wouldn't be able to hit those big sixes. I'll ask him now nicely if I can have the bat and keep it in my bag (smiles).

Nic Pooran | MINY Captain - (On the chase) It was always going to be tricky. 143 on a really good batting pitch, once the lights come on, it's obviously difficult for the bowlers as well. It wasn't our day, but congrats to the Unicorns, they outplayed us, not just today but a couple of days earlier as well. (on the team talk during the innings break) It was going to be difficult, it was all about showing attitude and pushing the game as deep as possible. In T20 cricket, you never know what will happen. Credit to our bowlers as well, they fought hard. But Lhuan-dre Pretorius played a beautiful innings - his first T20 century - and obviously a young kid showing us how to do it here. Congrats to him, well played and hopefully we can take a few notes. (on the upcoming games) It's T20 cricket, one minute you're on top of the table, next minute, you're struggling to win a game. T20 cricket is all about winning and losing and we know how contagious that can be. For us, it's just about putting up a complete performance in and hopefully we can get the right momentum at the right time. Hopefully, it's sooner than later.

22:50 Local Time, 03:50 GMT, 09:20 IST: Lhuan-dre Pretorius was a dasher in the T20 arena. He is known for quick starts with an ultra aggressive approach. But what he showed today was a classy innings that wasn't all about slam-bang. Finn Allen and Matt Short weren't going smoothly but Lhuan-dre seemed like he was batting on a completely different wicket. The feature of his innings was how well he picked the right balls to attack, hardly played a rash shot and timed the ball so well. Showed great game-awareness, of the field, of what balls to target. No wonder he's being embraced whole-heartedly by his team. MINY just could not find a way past Lhuan-dre and that ensured the Unicorns did the double on them this season. It wasn't a flat pitch and to still score a hundred off 52 balls needs high skill. South Africa must be very excited with this hundred!

The Unicorns need 9 to win, Lhuan-dre needs 8 for the hundred