Anderson: We want to bowl

San Francisco Unicorns have won the toss and have opted to field

Pitch report: "We are playing on pitch number 3, this is the fifth consecutive game that is being played here. It maybe spin to win, the surface looks nicely rolled and should be a good batting trick," reckon Darren Ganga and Matthew Hayden.

18:24 Local Time, 23:24 GMT, 04:54 IST: Just 4 games to go before we head into the playoffs. One of the two teams that have already qualified for the knock-out stage are in action today. Second-placed San Francisco Unicorns will be locking horns with bottom-placed Seattle Orcas. Hello and a warm welcome to game 18. Having won two on the bounce, another win for the Unicorns tonight will guarantee a top-two finish for them. As for Seattle Orcas, they have no other choice but to win the contest to remain in contention for the playoffs. Although, a playoff berth looks far-fetched at this stage, the Klaasen-led crew would be keen to turn things around after a hat-trick of losses. Both teams got some exciting international talents and expect this to a spicy affair. Stick around for toss and team updates...

Preview:

Their sights set on a top-two finish, San Francisco Unicorns would look to prolong Seattle Orcas' misery when the two teams clash in Dallas on Saturday (July 20) evening.

Not only do the Unicorns have a 100% winning record at the Grand Prairie Stadium in MLC 2024, they're coming into the contest high on confidence on the back of consecutive wins and with their playoffs berth already sealed. Their narrow 3-run victory against MI New York, that pushed the defending champions on the brink of elimination, would come as a shot in the arm for both the batting and bowling departments. MINY had Unicorns on the mat at 33/5 after seven overs before skipper Corey Anderson's 37-ball unbeaten 59 and an 87-run partnership with Hassan Khan (44 off 35) helped them to a respectable 148.

The bowling then stepped up, led by Matthew Short's three-fer, to clinch wickets at key moments for the win. They survived the Dewald Brevis scare up top, who had made 56 of MINY's 79 at the time of his dismissal, and a late counterattack from Heath Richards to help their team prevail in a last-ball finish and get that 'Q' against their name with two leagues games still in hand.

On the other hand, the Orcas are languishing at the bottom of the six-team table with just a solitary win in their five outings thus far, and are on a three-match losing streak they'd be eager to break. Even though they are only mathematically hanging in, dependent on more than just one favour from other sides in the competition, Orcas have two outings to give themselves the best shot or, at least, end what has been a forgettable season thus far on a high.

When: Saturday, July 20 at 7:30 PM Local | July 21 at 6 AM IST

Where: Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas

What to expect: A cloudy day in store but no rain interruption on the cards. The pitch and conditions have been favourable to the batters here.

Team News

San Francisco Unicorns: With a top-two berth in sight, San Francisco might resist the temptation of resting too many first-choice players.

Probable XI: Finn Allen, Matthew Short, Josh Inglis (wk), Corey Anderson (c), Sherfane Rutherford, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Hassan Khan, Pat Cummins, Liam Plunkett, Haris Rauf, Brody Couch

Seattle Orcas: They made wholesale changes in their previous outing in a desperate bid to fetch some points but that didn't go to plan. Safe to say that they're still struggling to find their most ideal XI.

Probable XI: Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock (wk), Shehan Jayasuriya, Aaron Jones, Michael Bracewell, Heinrich Klaasen (c), Keemo Paul, Harmeet Singh, Cameron Gannon, Lungi Ngidi, Ali Sheikh

Squads:

Seattle Orcas Squad: Ryan Rickelton, Shehan Jayasuriya, Quinton de Kock(w), Heinrich Klaasen(c), Aaron Jones, Michael Bracewell, Keemo Paul, Harmeet Singh, Cameron Gannon, Lungi Ngidi, Ali Sheikh, Imad Wasim, Hammad Azam, Nandre Burger, Zaman Khan, Nauman Anwar, Shubham Ranjane, Obed McCoy, Ayan Desai, Lance Morris

San Francisco Unicorns Squad: Finn Allen, Matthew Short, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Josh Inglis(w), Sherfane Rutherford, Hassan Khan, Corey Anderson(c), Pat Cummins, Haris Rauf, Liam Plunkett, Brody Couch, Matt Henry, Jahmar Hamilton, Carmi le Roux, Tajinder Dhillon, Abrar Ahmed, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Karima Gore