The ageless Peter Siddle returned 3/36 while Matthew Short picked two wickets to help San Francisco Unicorns keep Texas Super Kings down to 152/9. In chase, Lhuan-dre Pretorius starred with an unbeaten 69 off 55 while Short chipped in with a quick, vital 31 to ensure his team got over the finishing line comfortably in the 18th over.

The 41-year-old fast bowler struck on his first ball after skyexchange cricket were asked to bat first, taking out Saiteja Mukkamalla. Brody Couch made the more crucial incision in the following over, dismissing TSK's centurion from the last game Faf du Plessis for just six runs. TSK struggled to get going as they Milind Kumar too inside the Powerplay and Shubham Ranjane just beyond it, in the eighth over. Rilee Rossouw and Wiaan Mulder attempted a partnership for the fifth wicket, but couldn't take it too far. They put together 31 off 22 before Rossouw was run out in the 12th over, leaving TSK down to 81/5. TSK slid further very quickly, falling to 86/7 before Hardus Viljoen stitched three key stands to push TSK to a respectable total.

He and Donovan Ferreira arrested the slide first, taking the team past 100 runs. They batted together for 23 deliveries, scoring 36 runs but were then separated when Ferreira was run out. Amshi de Silva then got hit-wicket while attempting to scoop a Siddle delivery in the 19th over. But 50 runs off the last four overs ensured TSK just about went past 150, to give their bowlers a shot at making a game out the fixture. This game also marked Ravichandran Ashwin's much-awaited MLC debut, where he finished with 0-24 in two overs.

Nandre Burger dismissed Finn Allen in the first over of the run-chase, but SFU flew with a second-wicket partnership between Pretorius and his captain Short. They quickly moved on from the early wicket as fours and sixes came easy in the Powerplay.