Major T20 League 2023

Match 4: SFU vs SO

Preview

San Francisco will cross swords with Seattle in the 4th match of the Major T20 League 2023. The match will be played at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Sunday, July 16. 

Both sides have started their campaign with wins. While SFU pulled off a comprehensive win by 22 runs over MINY, SO locked a comfortable five-wicket win against WF. 

San Francisco demonstrated their batting depth in the inaugural match. On batting first, they were 50-4 in the first 7 overs, but ended their innings at a massive total of 215-5, due to the services of Corey Anderson, who smashed 91 runs off just 51 deliveries. The Blackcaps’ batter shared a 129-run partnership with all-rounder Shadab Khan who was also impressed with his quick knock of 61 runs off 30 balls to take their team to a formidable total, which later helped them to register a 22-run win. 

SFU bowling guild will depend on the services of Haris Rauf and Liam Plunkett to get some early breakthroughs. In the very first game, Plunkett drafted figures of 2-30 from his 4 limited overs. He surely enjoys bowling on this wicket. Khan needs to use his leg breaks in the middle overs to keep the runs under check. 

On the other hand, Seattle Seattle had a narrow win over Washington but all that mattered to them will be the two sweet victory points. SO struggled a bit on this pitch to chase a target of 145, but eventually finished off the game with two deliveries left to spare. Opening batter Nauman Anwar scored the most runs (48 off 37) along with Imad Washim who finished off the game with his quick knock of 43 runs off 28 balls.

Although struggling with the bat in the previous game, they have a strong bowling attack and they proved it in the last game by restricting New York to 144 runs at a loss of 7 wickets. Imad Washim will be a threat in the powerplays and SFU’s top order will have to possess the challenge. Andrew Tye took 1 wicket giving away 26 runs and bowled excellently in the middle overs. 

Match Details

Match: SFU vs. SO, Match 4, Major T20 League 2023

Date: Sunday, July 16, 2023

Time: 6:00 AM (Jul 16)

Venue: Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas

Pitch Report

The Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas, is a miniature ground with a quick outfield. The batters have performed well here as they can try out their strokes and cross the fence. The pacers get early help from the track, but this track proves to be a difficult venue for the spinners as the small dimensions of the stadium make it difficult for them to stop the batters from playing long shots. 

Hence, we expect a flat track and a high-scoring contest. Batsmen can play their strokes freely on this surface. There is little margin for error for the bowlers especially the spinners as the quality of batting for both sides is too good at this venue. The par score here will be 180 runs and the side batting first in this game will get the advantage of setting a huge target, hence pressurizing the opponents.

SFU vs. SO Squads

SFU: Finn Allen, Matthew Wade(w), Aaron Finch(c), Marcus Stoinis, Corey Anderson, Shadab Khan, Tajinder Dhillon, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Liam Plunkett, Carmi le Roux, Haris Rauf, Lungi Ngidi, David White, Qais Ahmad, Mackenzie Harvey, Brody Couch, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Smit Patel, Amila Aponso

SO: Quinton de Kock(w), Nauman Anwar, Shimron Hetmyer, Heinrich Klaasen, Imad Wasim, Shehan Jayasuriya, Shubham Ranjane, Cameron Gannon, Wayne Parnell(c), Harmeet Singh, Andrew Tye, Angelo Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Dwaine Pretorius, Hayden Walsh, Aaron Jones, Nisarg Patel, Phani Simhadri, Matthew Tromp

SFU vs. SO Probable Playing XIs

SFU: Aaron Finch (C), Matthew Wade (WK), Finn Allen, Corey Anderson, Marcus Stoinis, Tajinder Dhillon, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Shadab Khan, Carmi le Roux, Haris Rauf, Liam Plunkett 

SO: Wayne Parnell (C), Quinton de Kock (WK), Nauman Anwar, Shimron Hetmyer, Heinrich Klaasen, Imad Wasim, Shehan Jayasuriya, Shubham Ranjane, Cameron Gannon, Harmeet Singh, Andrew Tye 

Match Prediction

This looks like a evenly balanced battle with both sides having a win in their first matches. The only challenge for SFU will be to play two games on two consecutive days. This is the reason why SO has a slight advantage over SFU in this match,

Suggested Playing XI Real11 Fantasy Cricket