New Delhi: Lhuan-dre Pretorius smashed his T20 maiden to give San Francisco Unicorns a massive nine-wicket victory over MI New York in Major League Cricket (MLC) 2026 at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Thursday.Chasing a low score of 144, the young South African wicketkeeper-batsman made an unbeaten 102 off just 52 balls, hitting 10 fours and six sixes. He reached his maiden T20 hundred at a rate of 196.15 and guided the Unicorns home in just 15.4 overs. Pretorius was adjudged Player of the Match.The big win helped the San Francisco Unicorns go to the top of the points table. He now has five wins and three shutouts from eight games, with 10 points and a +0.590 slugging percentage.Meanwhile MI New York dropped to third. They have four wins and four losses from eight games, with eight points and an average of -0.208.
Pretorius chases easily
San Francisco got off to a good start with Pretorius and Finn Allen adding 52 runs for the opening wicket.Allen scored 20 off 17 balls, including three fours, before being dismissed by Romario Shepherd.Pretorius, however, continued to dominate the MI New York players. He got help from captain Matthew Short, who made an unbeaten 19 off 25 balls, as the pair put on an unbroken 94-run stand for the second wicket.Pretorius completed the chase in his first T20, ensuring the Unicorns reached 146/1 with 26 balls to spare.
Pretorius enjoyed a maiden T20 hundred
After receiving the Player of the Match award, Pretorius admitted that reaching three figures was on his mind, having failed twice before.“Well, the first thing in my mind was to get the team over the line and win the game, but I’d be lying if I said that 100 didn’t play in the back of my mind because I’ve failed a few times. But yeah, it was fun and I’m very happy that we won.”“We (Pretorius and captain Matthew Short) just joked about it, no, not really. We didn’t really talk about it. But in the back of my mind I really wanted 100. But the most important thing was to get the team over the line and I’m glad we could do it. And yes, I’m a believer if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be, and luckily it was meant to be tonight. “Pretorius also praised the atmosphere inside the Unicorns camp.“Yeah, great. It’s one of the best places I’ve played cricket. I haven’t played in many teams, but yeah, it’s one of the best places, if not the best, I’ve been in. And yeah, I really appreciate being here. It’s really fun.”“I was using Finn’s bat (Finn Allen). I’ll ask him now if I can take the bats and keep them in my bag (smiles).”
Matt Short, Hardie shines with the ball
Earlier, San Francisco Unicorns made a fist to restrict MI New York to 143/9 in their 20 overs.Ryan Rickelton top scored with 35 off 21 balls, while Sunny Patel made 32 off 23. Captain Nicholas Pooran struggled with 19 off 24 balls, and Kieron Pollard managed 16 off 13.Captain Matthew Short led from the front with the ball, taking 3/24 in four overs. Aaron Hardie took 2/17, while Haris Rauf also took two wickets. Brody Couch and Anirudh Immanuel chipped in with one wicket each.
