Nosthush Kenjige to Sanjay Krishnamurthi, 1 run, straighter line, worked in front of square on the on-side

Sanjay Krishnamurthi, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Nosthush Kenjige to Finn Allen, out Caught&Bowled!! That's a screamer from Nosthush Kenjige! 94.8kph, flat in trajectory, Finn Allen rocks back to punch and doesn't quite middle it. Finn Allen c and b Nosthush Kenjige 2(3)

Nosthush Kenjige to Finn Allen, THATS OUT!! Caught&Bowled!!

Nosthush Kenjige to Finn Allen, no run, 87kph, drifting in, Allen drives with hard hands and inside-edges to square leg

Nosthush Kenjige to Finn Allen, 2 runs, to mid-wicket

Finn Allen and Matthew Short are at the crease. Finn Allen is on strike. Nosthush Kenjige will open the attack

Time for USA's national anthem.

Pollard: Today we were looking to bat first as well. Hopefully we can bowl well.

Anderson: We are gonna bat.

Pitch Report | Chris Morris and Pommie Mbangwa: Little bit of a breeze. 242 ft straight down the ground, 196ft and 242 ft square boundaries. Not much puff of dust. It is going to slow up for the spinners. The quick bowlers are going to use a lot of slower deliveries. 160-170 would be a good total.

Teams:

Teams:

San Francisco Unicorns (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Matthew Short, Josh Inglis(w), Corey Anderson(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Hassan Khan, Pat Cummins, Liam Plunkett, Haris Rauf, Brody Couch

San Francisco Unicorns (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Matthew Short, Josh Inglis(w), Corey Anderson(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Hassan Khan, Pat Cummins, Liam Plunkett, Haris Rauf, Brody Couch

MI New York (Playing XI): Ruben Clinton, Monank Patel, Nicholas Pooran(w), Dewald Brevis, Kieron Pollard(c), Romario Shepherd, Sunny Patel, Heath Richards, Rashid Khan, Nosthush Kenjige, Trent Boult

San Francisco Unicorns have won the toss and have opted to bat

18:30 Local Time, 23:30 GMT, 05:00 IST: Defending champions - MI New York - are in a precarious situation with just one win in five matches. With two matches in hand, they'll hope to turn things around. Their captain - Pollard - rightly used the word 'atrocious' to describe his team's batting performance in the previous outing where they were bundled out for 88. San Francisco Unicorns, on the other hand, are in a much better position (third) with three matches to play. They come into this match on the back of a 23-run win over Seattle. Thanks to Washington's unbeaten campaign so far, the gap isn't too wide between the other teams. Six round robin matches remain and five teams are in the hunt of the remaining three playoff spots. Corey Anderson and Co. will certainly be eyeing a top-two finish. Let's hope we are treated to a thriller. Toss and team news coming up shortly...

Preview :

It's do or die for MI New York, the defending champions, who find themselves in danger of not making the cut for the playoffs stage. With a solitary win from five matches, including one no result, they are placed second from bottom and need back to back wins in their last two matches in order to make it to the next stage. On the other hand, their opponents San Francisco Unicorns are much better placed having won two out of four so far, and they just need one win to ensure a top four finish for themselves.

MI New York are entering this game on the back of successive losses. A spirited all-round performance from Rashid Khan, which even won him the Player of the Match award, wasn't enough to prevent the side going down by 15 runs to Texas Super Kings, which was followed by a drubbing at the hands of Washington Freedom as they were bowled out for 88 in a chase of 183. Kieron Pollard, the MI New York skipper, admitted that their batting was 'atrocious' and they need a quick fix to that. Steven Taylor, Dewald Brevis, Nicholas Pooran and the captain himself have struggled for runs and MI New York need to pull their socks up going against the Unicorns who have both chased and defended well in the competition so far.

Barring the loss to Super Kings, where they were found wanting with the bat, Unicorns have been on the mark otherwise. Finn Allen and Matthew Short have contributed consistently for the team with the bat, and they also have the dangerous Jake Fraser-McGurk who is due for runs and will be itching to go. Liam Plunkett has led the charge for them with the ball, and has received good support from the likes of Haris Rauf and Brody Couch. They have a well-settled line-up and the reliable Pat Cummins in their setup, and are primed to step into the next round having failed to do so in the inaugural edition.

When: Thursday, July 18 at 7:30 PM Local time (July 19 at 6:00 AM IST)

Where: Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas

What to expect: The team batting first has crossed 175 in the last two matches and has defended successfully, with MI New York being the losing team on both occasions.

Team news:

MI New York: Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje were left out for the last game and there is a possibility that one of them could slot in, perhaps in place of Trent Boult who has been expensive in his last two outings.

Probable XI: Steven Taylor, Shayan Jahangir, Monank Patel, Dewald Brevis, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard (c), Rashid Khan, Romario Shepherd, Trent Boult/Kagiso Rabada, Nosthush Kenjige, Ehsan Adil

San Francisco Unicorns: Corey Anderson's team is likely to stick to the same eleven that took the field in the last game.

Probable XI: Finn Allen, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matthew Short, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Josh Inglis(w), Corey Anderson(c), Pat Cummins, Liam Plunkett, Hassan Khan, Haris Rauf, Carmi le Roux

Squads: