Short, Krishnamurthi take San Francisco Unicorns to the top

The San Francisco Unicorns defeated MI New York in the final game of the MLC 2026 season at Pomona thanks to a strong bowling performance led by a four-for from Matthew Short and a three-wicket haul from Brody Couch. The Unicorns bowled the holders out for 104 on a hard, tacky surface before Sanjay Krishnamurthi's composed, unbeaten 48 got them over the line with 19 balls left. Despite the fact that three other teams, including MINY, have the same number of points, the victory only temporarily elevated the Unicorns to the top of the standings.

Once Short put them in the game, MINY's innings never got going. In the first over, Quinton de Kock defeated Xavier Bartlett by one run after committing a golden duck. In the following, Couch twice found Monank Patel's edge, but the third time ended with a fielder. Before Couch got Shakib al Hasan, MINY lost Tajinder Dhillon to Short before the Powerplay ended.

After the fielding restrictions, the slide continued when captain and experienced batter Nicholas Pooran returned a Haris Rauf delivery to the stumps, putting his team five down for 45. The MINY innings had come to a halt when Short struck out Kieron Pollard in the ninth over with a two-run blast off nine balls. Corbin Bosch's steady 21 was the reason they got to 105 before losing the last ball of the innings.

This was going to be a fairly straightforward chase, despite the difficult pitch. The Unicorns lost Lhuan-dre Pretorius in the first over, but captain Short added a string of boundaries to his four-wicket haul to relieve pressure. Despite the fact that the Unicorns were already halfway there, he fell shortly after the Powerplay for 21. The chase was completed with more than three overs remaining thanks to Krishnamurthi's sequence of high-quality strokes and batsmanship, boosting the Unicorns' net run rate and propelling them to the top of the standings heading into the crucial final leg of league matches in Dallas.