The Oakland leg of the league stage of MLC 2026 started with a game where batters on either side struggled, and seamer Amshi de Silva put on a show to run through San Francisco Unicorns and give Texas Super Kings their second win to end a mini losing streak of two matches.

There were two individual scores in the 40s, both for Super Kings, and none of the Unicorns batters crossed 28. But 18 wickets fell as exactly 200 runs were scored, with de Silva’s 4 for 28 the best individual return and four other quick bowlers picked up two wickets apiece.

Asked to bat first, Super Kings got to what looked like a modest total of 161 for 8. They started strongly, with Faf du Plessis and Salteja Mukkamalla putting on 72 in just under eight overs. That set the platform Super Kings needed, but they were 96 for 5 in the 13th over.

Enter Donovan Ferreira, and the complexion of the innings and, in hindsight, the game changed.

Ferreira put on 40 in 27 balls with Wiaan Mulder, who contributed four runs in eight balls in the sixth-wicket partnership while Ferreira scored 34 in 19. There was no significant partnership after that, but Ferreira’s 45 in 28 balls – he hit four of the ten sixes in the innings – carried Super Kings to a total that eventually proved much more than enough.

There was almost no resistance from the Unicorns batters. The best partnership was the one for the second wicket between Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Matt Short, worth just 22 in 12 balls. De Silva had already sent back Finn Allen before that, in the third over, and then got two in the fifth of the innings, those of Pretorius and Connor Esterhuizen. Unicorns did have the runs, ending the powerplay with 53, but had lost three wickets in that time. In comparison, Super Kings had been 48 for no loss.

And it only got worse for Unicorns after the powerplay, with Abhimanyu Lamba taking charge and leaving the scorecard reading 115 for 8 after 15 overs.

There was no chance of a comeback from there, and though Brody Couch, who had earlier returned 2 for 42, put on stands of 25 in 14 balls and 20 in 13 balls with Hammad Azam and Peter Siddle respectively, it was all over when Adam Milne came back to finish the innings off.

The result left Super Kings at No. 2 on the table with two wins from four games, behind Los Angeles Knight Riders, who have two wins in two games. Unicorns, meanwhile, are one off the bottom in fifth place with one win in three games.

Scores:

Texas Super Kings 161 for 8 in 20 overs (Donovan Ferreira 45, Faf Du Plessis 40, Saiteja Mukkamalla 36; Ghulam Mudassar 2-30, Brody Couch 2-42, Peter Siddle 1-34, Hasan Khan 1-19, Matthew Short 1-19) beat San Francisco Unicorns 139 in 17.4 overs (Lhuan-dre Pretorius 17, Matthew Short 28, Hassan Khan 14, Hammad Azam 20, Brody Couch 22; Amshi De Silva 4-28, Abhimanyu Lamba 2-22, Adam Milne 2-29, Hardus Vijeon 1-24) by 22 runs

(Cricinfo)

Sri Lanka take on Scotland in Manchester at 18:30 local time (17:30 GMT) in the Women’s T20 World Cup. Scotland, with three losses in four matches, are out of the semi-final race. With England having already booked a spot in the semi-finals, Sri Lanka’s only hope is to beat Scotland by a big margin and then hope for a few other results to go their way.

Sri Lanka are coming off a confidence-boosting win against Ireland, powered by Chamari Athapaththu’s century, while Scotland lost to New Zealand despite a spirited performance. The teams have met three times in T20Is with Sri Lanka winning all three. In their last meeting, in the 2024 T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi, Athapaththu made a 63 ball 102.

South Africa beat South Korea 1-0 to reach the World Cup knockout rounds for the first time in their history, an astonishing turnaround after a dismal opening defeat.

Bafana Bafana, playing at the tournament for the first time since South Africa hosted it in 2010, were widely written off after their 2-0 loss to Group A winners Mexico.

But they battled to a draw against the Chez Republic and came out on top of what was effectively a shootout with South Korea for second place in Monterrey, thanks to Thapelo Maseko’s second-half strike.

South Korea coach Myung-Bo Hong made a shock call by leaving captain Son Heungmin – considered by many to be Asia’s greatest-ever player – out of the starting lineup.

The Asian team started strongly, with stand-in captain Kim Minjae’s powerful header blocked on the goal line by Aubrey Modiba, before Lee Kangin flashed wide.

South Africa quickly settled, playing with hunger and adventure, but their finishing was wasteful.

They seemed certain to take the lead in the 30th minute when the ball fell to Evidence Makgopa after South Korean goalkeeper Kim Seunggyu parried Thalente Mbatha’s shot. But Makgopa could only tamely poke the ball straight at the goalkeeper from close range.

Son came on at the start of the second half, one of three changes made by coach Hong as he sought to change the script.

Early in the second period, Maseko squandered another good position, while South Korea forward Oh Hyeongyu tested goalkeeper Ronwen Williams at the other end.

As news filtered through from Mexico City that the host nation were leading against the Czech Republic, there was an added sense of urgency.

South Africa seized their moment, with Tshepang Moremi crossing to Maseko, who this time kept his cool, firing home inside the near post in the 63rd minute.

South Korea pushed hard in the closing stages but ran out of time, meaning South Africa will face cohosts Canada in Los Angeles on June 28 .

Mexico topped the group with nine points after winning all three of their matches.

[Aljazeera]