San Francisco Unicorns Edge Seattle Orcas by 2 Wickets – Pretorius Blasts 87 in Thrilling Chase

San Francisco Unicorns won by 2 wickets (with 2 balls remaining) in the 11th match of 34 in Major League Cricket (MLC 2026) at Oakland Coliseum, California. Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to bat, posting an imposing 191/10 in 19.2 overs on the back of explosive batting from their top order. But San Francisco Unicorns pulled off a remarkable chase thanks to a sensational 87 off 39 balls from Lhuan-dre Pretorius, with Brody Couch finishing the job with an unbeaten 26 off 14. Both sides sit on 4 points in the standings, with SFU (4th, P4 W2 L2) holding a game in hand over Seattle (3rd, P5 W2 L3).

Seattle Orcas Innings – 191/10 (19.2 overs)

Seattle Orcas got off to a blistering start through their openers. Tim Seifert smashed 32 off just 14 balls (1 four, 4 sixes, SR 229), and Shayan Jahangir was even more destructive, launching 62 off 25 balls (4 fours, 6 sixes, SR 248). Their opening partnership of 60 came in just 4.1 overs, setting a ferocious pace.

After Seifert fell caught at 60/1, Jahangir continued the onslaught alongside Matthew Breetzke, who contributed a classy 51 off 29 balls (3 fours, 3 sixes, SR 176). The pair added 78 for the second wicket, taking the score to 138/1 in 9.6 overs. Seattle looked set for 230 or more.

But the dismissal of Jahangir triggered a stunning collapse. Shimron Hetmyer managed just 3 off 6 balls (caught at 149/3), Breetzke followed at 150/4, and Marcus Stoinis fell for 1 off 3 balls at 152/5. From 138/1, Seattle had slumped to 152/5 in just 3.3 overs – 4 wickets for 14 runs.

Dasun Shanaka (14 off 11 balls, 1 four, 1 six) and Ali Sheikh (19 off 17, 1 four, 1 six) provided some late resistance, but the tail collapsed further. Harmeet Singh (2 off 3) and Cameron Gannon (0 off 1) fell on consecutive deliveries at 174/7 and 174/8 in the 18th over. Sheikh pushed the total to 190/9 before Ottneil Baartman was last out lbw for 0 at 191/10 in the 20th over. Jasdeep Singh finished 4 not out off 5 balls.

Seven SFU bowlers shared the wickets. Brody Couch was the most prolific with 4-0-41-3 (econ 10.25), taking key scalps despite conceding runs. Xavier Bartlett claimed 2/30 off 4 overs (econ 7.50), Ghulam Mudassar took 2/15 off 2 overs (econ 7.50), and Matthew Short chipped in with 2/12 off 2 overs (econ 6.00). Haris Rauf (3.2-0-29-1, econ 8.70), Aaron Hardie (3-0-45-0, econ 15.00), and Hassan Khan (1-0-16-0, econ 16.00) completed the attack.

San Francisco Unicorns Innings – 192/8 (19.4 overs)

The chase began in disastrous fashion. Finn Allen was caught for 0 off 2 balls with just 1 run on the board in the first over. Matthew Short (10 off 7, 2 fours) was caught at 23/2 in the third over, and Sanjay Krishnamurthi (3 off 5) followed at 26/3 in the fourth over. At 26/3 after 3.3 overs, the chase looked dead and buried.

Enter Lhuan-dre Pretorius. The South African opener had survived the carnage at the other end and now took the attack to the Seattle bowlers in extraordinary fashion. He and Aaron Hardie (28 off 20 balls, 1 four, 2 sixes, SR 140) put on a match-turning 99-run partnership for the fourth wicket, dragging SFU from 26/3 to 125/4 in the 12th over.

Hardie fell caught at 125/4, and Hammad Azam was out lbw for 0 just two balls later at 125/5 – a double blow that threatened to derail the chase again. But Pretorius held firm, adding another 11 runs with Hassan Khan before finally being caught at 136/6 in the 14th over. His 87 off 39 balls included 9 fours and 6 sixes at a strike rate of 223 – a sensational innings that kept the Unicorns alive.

Even after Pretorius departed, the game was far from over. SFU needed 56 off 41 balls with 4 wickets in hand. Hassan Khan (16 off 10, 2 sixes, SR 160) and Xavier Bartlett (13 off 10, 1 four, 1 six) added 20 for the seventh wicket before Bartlett was run out at 156/7. Khan fell caught at 163/8 in the 17th over, leaving SFU needing 29 off 18 balls with just 2 wickets remaining.

Brody Couch rose to the occasion superbly. The all-rounder smashed an unbeaten 26 off 14 balls (2 fours, 2 sixes, SR 186), finding the boundary when it mattered most. Haris Rauf (5 not out off 9 balls) held up his end as the pair put on an unbroken 29 for the ninth wicket to complete a stunning victory with 2 balls to spare.

For Seattle, Marcus Stoinis was the pick of the bowlers with 4-0-29-2 (econ 7.25), while Cameron Gannon took 2/30 off 4 overs (econ 7.50). Dasun Shanaka claimed 2/36 off 2.4 overs (econ 13.50), and Ottneil Baartman took 1/39 off 4 overs (econ 9.75). Jasdeep Singh (4-0-40-0, econ 10.00) and Harmeet Singh (1-0-17-0, econ 17.00) went wicketless.

Statz MVP – Lhuan-dre Pretorius (114.55)

Lhuan-dre Pretorius earned the Statz MVP award with a match impact rating of 114.55 for his extraordinary 87 off 39 balls that single-handedly rescued the chase from 26/3. The Statz rating calculates impact based on match context, and Pretorius’s innings was all the more remarkable for the pressure under which it was played. Notably, the official Man of the Match award went to Brody Couch for his all-round contribution of 3/41 and 26 not out, but the Statz algorithm rated Pretorius’s batting impact higher. Pretorius now leads the MLC 2026 season with a cumulative Statz rating of 280.93 across 4 matches (average 70.23).

Top 5 Statz Ratings

1. Lhuan-dre Pretorius (San Francisco Unicorns) – 114.55 – Match-winning 87 off 39 balls (9 fours, 6 sixes, SR 223), reviving the chase from 26/3 almost single-handedly.
2. Brody Couch (San Francisco Unicorns) – 108.49 – Superb all-round display with 3/41 with the ball and an unbeaten 26 off 14 to finish the chase with 2 balls left.
3. Shayan Jahangir (Seattle Orcas) – 95.93 – Devastating 62 off 25 balls (4 fours, 6 sixes, SR 248) that set the foundation for Seattle’s 191.
4. Xavier Bartlett (San Francisco Unicorns) – 81.54 – Impactful with the ball (2/30, econ 7.50) and contributed 13 with the bat in a tense run chase.
5. Marcus Stoinis (Seattle Orcas) – 69.49 – Best figures for Seattle with 2/29 (econ 7.25), providing control during the frantic chase.

Turning Point

The dismissal of Shayan Jahangir at 138/1 in the 10th over was the pivotal moment of the match. With Jahangir blazing at a strike rate of 248 and Seattle seemingly headed for 230-plus, his departure ripped the heart out of the innings. What followed was a collapse of 4 wickets for 14 runs in 3.3 overs as Shimron Hetmyer, Matthew Breetzke, and Marcus Stoinis all fell cheaply. The 30-40 runs Seattle lost in that collapse were ultimately the difference – they fell short by just 1 run.

Match Context

This was the 11th match of 34 in the MLC 2026 regular season, and the second of a double-header at Oakland Coliseum. The win lifts San Francisco Unicorns to 4 points from 4 matches (W2 L2, NRR -0.065), while Seattle Orcas drop to 3 losses from 5 matches with 4 points (W2 L3, NRR +0.132). Seattle remain ahead on net run rate but have played one more game. At the top, Texas Super Kings lead with 6 points, while the Los Angeles Knight Riders are unbeaten with 4 points from 2 matches. The bottom two – MI New York and Washington Freedom – sit on 2 points each. With 23 matches remaining, the standings are tightly packed and every result matters. San Francisco Unicorns now hold a 4-2 head-to-head advantage over Seattle Orcas across all MLC seasons.

View the full scorecard on Statz.