In a riveting Major League Cricket 2023 game, the San Francisco Unicorns (SFU) defeated MI New York (MINY) by 22 runs on Friday at Grand Prairie Stadium.

Shadab Khan played a pivotal role in guiding the San Francisco Unicorns to a 22-run win over MI New York in the inaugural edition of Major League Cricket (MLC) on Friday at Grand Prairie.

Despite a challenging start that saw MI New York's Trent Boult and Kagisa Rabada quickly dismiss the Unicorns' top batters, the crucial partnership of Shadab and Corey Anderson turned the tide in their team's favour.

SFU put in an impressive batting performance, totaling 215 runs and losing five wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Corey Anderson led the offense with a staggering 91 runs and just 52 deliveries, including four fours and seven sixes. He was ably assisted by Shadab Khan, who played an impressive inning of 61 runs, 30 balls, including four fours and five sixes. Their partnership played a crucial role in guiding the Unicorns to a commanding overall result.

The New York bowlers put on a spirited performance, with Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada taking two wickets each. However, they faced a massive attack from the Unicorns' batter as their opponents had a massive total on the board.

In chasing of 216 runs to victory, MINY started a brave chase. Contributions from Nicholas Pooran (40 runs 28-ball), Kieron Pollard (48 runs 27-ball) and Tim David (53 runs 28-ball) kept their hopes alive. But they fell short, hitting 193 runs for the loss of five wickets in the prescribed 20 overs.

SFU bowlers put in commendable performances to limit the opponent. Carmi le Roux and Liam Plunkett each grabbed two scalps while Shadab took the deciding wicket from Dewald Brevis. Their disciplined bowling performance prevented the New York team from starting a successful comeback.

Shadab finished his three-over spell on scores of 3/32, while Rauf went without a wicket but conceded 34 runs on his four-over play. Their combined efforts limited MI New York to 193/5 overall in 20 overs, falling short of the Unicorns' goal of 216 runs.

Looking back on the game, Shadab acknowledged the importance of starting the tournament well and expressed admiration for Rauf, highlighting the bowler's exceptional skill and attitude to the game.

"If you bowl in their arc, they will set limits for you. How you start a tournament is very important; it's a short tournament so we have to start well. Mumbai have a very balanced team; we haven't played before.” and there was no practice game, but now we know each other's strengths. Haris Rauf is a world-class bowler. I always enjoy his company and his take on the game. He's outstanding and I always learn from him," Shadab said after the match.