With that run, the San Francisco Unicorns established themselves as top dogs in the 2025 Major League Cricket season. They defeated the Los Angeles Knight Riders in the final by 32 runs. The game, hosted at the Unicorns’ home pitch, produced incredible drama and athleticism. Jake Fraser-McGurk went a long way towards stealing the show with a splendid 88 off 38 balls.
In the high-scoring encounter, the Unicorns set a formidable target of 220 runs, finishing their innings at 219 for 8. Fraser-McGurk’s incredible feat of batting featured an unreal 11 sixes, alongside two fours, helping his side reach a defendable score of 238. Supporting him, Finn Allen made a major impact with his quick-fire half-century of 52 runs in 27 balls. The duo forged a key association, putting on 121 runs for the second wicket from just 55 balls.
Although the Knight Riders started their chase brightly, they fell away quickly against a tight and very effective bowling unit. Unmukt Chand led the response with a solid 53 runs off 32 balls while Rachin Ravindra added a quick-fire 44 runs off just 18 balls. Against all those odds, through their efforts, the Knight Riders failed to chase the target and ended at 187 for 9.
In what was a frugal display, Xavier Bartlett and Haris Rauf were key to breaking down the Knight Riders’ batting order. Bartlett took four wickets, including some impressive bowling to seal victory with unbelievable skill and control. Rauf matched this performance, taking four wickets, making sure that the Unicorns kept up the pressure for the entirety of North-West’s innings.
His replacement was far less fortunate. Liam Plunkett had a really difficult game. In reply, he bowled four overs, took no wickets and conceded 45 runs. This great performance by him showed just how good his teammates were, while at the same time bringing up red flags about his play in this game.
With this victory, the San Francisco Unicorns were able to answer their largest crowd ever—11,000 strong—by remaining unbeaten this season. Their impressive squad depth complimented by an awesome batting and bowling attack really came to the fore. The victory cements their standing atop the league. Beyond the short term, it might send a powerful message to other teams about their own championship ambitions.
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