Pretorius, Couch lead San Francisco to thrilling win over Seattle Orcas

Brody Couch claimed three wickets and then produced a match-defining 14-ball cameo for 26 runs to help the San Francisco Unicorns win a thriller against the Seattle Orcas at the Oakland Coliseum. The Unicorns were aiming for 192 when Lhuan-dre Pretorius scored 87 (39), but regular wickets threatened to halt their chase until Couch's late assault got them over the line with two wickets and two balls left. Unicorns' chase got off to an inauspicious start when Finn Allen departed for a two-ball duck in the first over bowled by Orcas skipper Marcus Stoinis. Although Pretorius got going at the other end with a six and a four off yesterday's five-wicket hero Jasdeep Singh, the Unicorns found themselves reduced to 26 for 3 losing both Matthew Short and Sanjay Krisnamurthi in quick succession. However, Pretorius kept the Unicorns safe with counterattacks, scoring six-four pairs in each of the two Powerplay overs that remained. Even when the field spread, he kept finding his boundary options, racing away to a 23-ball half-century with Aaron Hardie giving him solid support at the other end. Before Hardie was bowled out by Dasun Shanaka in the 12th over, the pair had scored 99 off just 48 deliveries. Pretorius was out for a stunning 39-ball 87, which included six sixes, as the Orcas struck again, leaving the Unicorns at 136 for 6. But Unicorns found an escape route almost immediately after as Xavier Bartlett helped plunder 17 off the very next over bowled by Harmeet Singh. The Orcas roared back through Cameron Gannon's 17th over, giving the Unicorns just one run off their required 30 off the final four overs. Eight down, San Francisco needed 23 off the final two overs. Couch then found a six off Ottneil Baartman in the 19th over. Couch was able to bowl Shanaka over midwicket for a six and then found an outside-edged four to effectively end the tense chase after Haris Rauf gave up the strike with a single off the final ball. Despite putting in an excellent fight, Orcas, who came within striking distance of victory on successive nights, were ultimately left to rue their batting collapse. When they chose to bat, they should have scored more than 220, as they had done yesterday, when they reached 138 for 2 in the first ten overs. Following an equally destructive start from Tim Seifert, who hit four sixes in his 14-ball 32, Shayan Jahangir smashed 62 off 25 and Matthew Breetzke added 51 off just 29. However, after a collapse of 8 for 42 in the second half of the innings, Breetzke and Shimron Hetmyer were bowled out with four balls remaining for a subpar total, thanks to Couch's crucial strikes.