Faf du Plessis' MLC century goes in vain as Unicorns defeat Super Kings

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis rolled back the years with a brilliant century for Texas Super Kings (TSK) in their Major League Cricket (MLC) match against the San Francisco Unicorns in Dallas on Saturday. However, his effort was not enough to secure a win for his team.

Opening the innings, du Plessis played a stunning knock of 100 runs off just 51 balls, helping TSK post a competitive total of 198/5 in their 20 overs after being asked to bat first. He was well supported by New Zealand’s Devon Conway, with the pair adding 97 runs for the first wicket. Conway scored 23 runs from 23 balls before being dismissed, but du Plessis continued to entertain the crowd with his aggressive stroke play.

This was du Plessis' second century in MLC, equaling Finn Allen's record for the most hundreds in the league. It was also his seventh century in T20 cricket overall, moving him ahead of Indian batters Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, and Ruturaj Gaikwad — all of whom have six T20 tons.

At 40 years and 342 days, du Plessis also became one of the oldest players to score a T20 hundred. Only England's Paul Collingwood (41 years, 65 days in 2017) and Graeme Hick (41 years, 37 days in 2007) were older when they achieved the milestone.

Despite the veteran’s heroics, Texas Super Kings couldn’t defend their total. The San Francisco Unicorns chased down the target with ease, finishing the job inside 17 overs.

Finn Allen and Matthew Short gave the Unicorns a blazing start with a 117-run partnership in just 8.3 overs. After Short’s dismissal, Jake Fraser-McGurk played a quickfire knock of 37 to wrap up the win.

This was the Unicorns’ fourth consecutive victory, which further solidified their position at the top of the points table.