MLC 2023: How did the international players fare in Los Angeles Knight Riders vs San Francisco Unicorns match, Match 8?

An electrifying contest between Los Angeles Knight Riders and San Francisco Unicorns unfolded on July 19 at Grand Prairie Ground in Dallas. More than 400 runs were scored in two completed innings as the match turned out to be an absolute graveyard for the bowlers. San Francisco Unicorns were able to get back to winning ways again while the Los Angeles Knight Riders still continue to wait for their elusive maiden MLC victory.

It was a day to forget for the Knight Riders' bowlers. They were taken to the cleaners and were hammered all around the park. Matthew Wade turned out to be their adversary as he took them on during the early part of the innings. He made a fiery 78 (41) at an exhilarating strike rate of 190.

Marcus Stoinis also played a delightful innings of 37 (18) which involved 3 fours and 3 sixes. Decent contributions were made by Corey Anderson (39 off 20) and Aaron Finch (12 off 10) which took the Unicorns over the 200-run mark. The Knight Riders bowlers were unable to contain the batters and leaked way too many runs inside the first 10 overs. Apart from Spencer Johnson, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine, the entire bowling unit looked in disarray.

Ali Khan was expensive going at over 16 RPO with only one wicket to his name. Adam Zampa picked up three wickets but he found himself at the receiving end as well, going at more than 10 RPO. Sunil Narine went around 8.25 RPO and picked a prize wicket of Allen. Johnson was the most economical bowler going at just 5.25 RPO with no wickets.

Chasing 214 for the win, the Knight Riders got off to a powerful start courtesy of a 19-ball 45 from Roy. The dismissal of Roy slowed down the scoring as Unmukt Chand and Nitish Kumar failed to get going. Nitish Kumar played a decent hand of 31 from 23 but Rossouw and Malhotra departed cheaply. Russell and Narine tried hard by adding 75* off 41 but the target was too tall for them and they were always behind the asking rate.

Shadab Khan was the pick of the Unicorns bowlers with 2 for 26 in his spell. He put the brakes on scoring and picked the key wickets of Rilee Rossouw and Jaskaran Malhotra. Haris Rauf, Bishnoi, and Corey Anderson chipped in with one apiece. The Unicorns are looking good with 2 wins from their three games so far.

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Matthew Wade (SFU)

The day belonged to Matthew Made who launched himself and scored a match-winning knock of 78 (41) to lay a foundation for a solid total. He smashed the Knight Riders bowlers to all parts of 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 breathtaking knock.

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Finn Allen (SFU)

Finn Allen supported his partner Finch at the other end by building a solid 88-run stand for the first wicket. His scoring rate was rather subdued as his strike rate was around 105. He scored 20 (19) before being dismissed by Narine in the 8th over.

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Marcus Stoinis (SFU)

Stoinis played an explosive innings with the bat scoring 37 (18) which included 3 fours and 3 sixes. Together with Wade, the duo stitched a vital 55-run stand for the second wicket in record time. His innings came to a close during the 13th over when he holed out to Spencer Johnson at long-on. He was fairly expensive with the ball, going at almost 10 RPO while going wicketless.

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Shadab Khan (SFU)

The Pakistan spin-bowling all-rounder did not have a great day with the bat and perished for just 9 (11) to Zampa while he was trying to up the ante. However, he was very impactful with the ball as he delivered a tight spell of 2/26 at an economy of 6.5 RPO which completely derailed the Knight Riders during the middle overs.

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Aaron Finch (SFU)

Finch did not get too many runs as per his liking during the death overs and finished with an unbeaten score of 12* in 10 balls. During his short stay, he smashed two boundaries to drag his side over the 210-mark.

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Haris Rauf (SFU)

Rauf was once again on the higher side conceding 40 in his allotted overs. However, he managed to remove the dangerous Jason Roy just when he was beginning to tee off. He bowled 10 dots and conceded 2 fours and 4 sixes in his entire spell.

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Liam Plunkett (SFU)

Plunkett had an off day with the ball and did not complete his full quota of overs. He only bowled two overs where he conceded 27 runs while going wicketless at around 13 RPO. He bowled 4 dots and conceded 4 boundaries in his entire spell.

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Jason Roy (TAKR)

Roy looked in very fine form at the top of the order and went ballistic right from ball number one. He smashed his way to a brilliant 45 (21) before being knocked over by Rauf. His innings included 4 fours and 4 sixes. He will be extremely disappointed about missing out on his half-century. Following his dismissal, the Knight Riders could not carry on with the same intensity and were soon out of the run chase.

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Rilee Rossouw (TAKR)

Rossouw had a forgettable day with the bat as he once again faltered at a time when his team needed him the most. He scored a run-a-ball 8 before getting dismissed by Shadab Khan. He was struggling to pick the variations of Shadab and later paid a heavy price by gifting away his wicket cheaply.

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Andre Russell (TAKR)

Andre Russell in action (Image Courtesy: Twitter/Los Angeles Knight Riders)

The lone warrior for the Knight Riders was on top of his game. At a time when the bowlers were getting hammered, he picked up the prize wicket of Stoinis. He finished with figures of 1/32 before limping off the field. And with the bat in hand, Russell destroyed the figures of the Unicorns bowlers at the fag end of the innings scoring 42 (26) at a strike rate of 161.

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Sunil Narine (TAKR)

Narine tried to be very tidy with the ball as he returned figures of 1/34 in his allotted over while going at 8.5 RPO. He turned out to be one of the most economical bowlers for the Knight Riders after the conclusion of today’s game. He batted together with Russell to add 75 runs for the 6th wicket where he scored 28 (17).

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Adam Zampa (TAKR)

The Aussie leg-spinner took a terrible thrashing in today's game where he conceded 41 in his 4 overs spell. He picked up the most number of wickets from a Knight Riders’ point of view which features dismissals of Shadab Khan, Corey Anderson, and Tajinder Singh. He did not get a chance to bat in today’s game.

Note: Domestic players playing for the USA team have not been featured in the article