Matthew Short starred with bat and ball as San Francisco Unicorns extended their winning start to six games with a 32-run win over Seattle Orcas in Major League Cricket.
Australia’s Short made 52 off 29 – his third half-century in three games – at the top of the order as Unicorns posted 176-8.
He shared 68 with compatriot Jake Fraser-McGurk (34 off 21) for the second wicket but both were dismissed in a seven-ball spell to leave Unicorns 93-3.
The innings was held together by West Indies’ Romario Shepherd, who smashed 56 off 31 balls as he lost four partners for single-figure scores.
Orcas made a good start in reply, reaching 59-0 off the six-over powerplay, but openers Shayan Jahangir (40 off 22) and David Warner (23 off 20) were dismissed in the space of three balls.
Warner was Short’s first wicket and the Unicorns captain finished with 3-12 from his four overs.
Pakistan seamer Haris Rauf was the pick of the Unicorns bowlers – taking 4-32, including the big wickets of Henrich Klaasen and Shimron Hetmyer – as he extended his lead as the top wicket-taker to six victims.
Unicorns are top of the table with six wins from six matches, while Orcas are bottom with five straight defeats.
