Azam, Mudassar lead Unicorns to narrow win over Scorchers

Hammad Azam struck an unbeaten half-century before Ghulam Mudassar claimed four wickets as the San Francisco Unicorns defeated the Perth Scorchers XI by five runs in the ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League (GSL) at the Guyana National Stadium on Sunday morning.
Azam’s unbeaten 64 lifted the Unicorns to 152 for eight from their 20 overs after they had slipped to 69 for six. Mudassar then returned figures of four for 32 as the Scorchers were restricted to 147 for nine from their allotted overs.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat on a hard pitch, the Unicorns were given a brisk start by Tim Robinson and Connor Esterhuizen. The pair added 42 runs for the opening wicket before Esterhuizen was dismissed by Brody Couch for 21 from 12 balls, having struck three fours and a six.
Couch then bowled Sanjay Krishnamurthi for one and removed Oliver Peake without scoring as the Unicorns slipped to 45 for three. Captain Hassan Khan was run out for one shortly afterwards, leaving his side in trouble at 46 for four.
Robinson made 24 from 18 balls before he was removed by Sufyan Moqim at 57 for five. Moqim also dismissed Fabian Allen for seven as the Scorchers continued to make inroads.

Azam steadied the innings with Anirudh Immanuel, sharing a 39-run seventh-wicket partnership that carried the score to 108. Immanuel contributed 17 from 13 balls before becoming Moqim’s third victim.
Callum Stow made one before he was bowled by Akeal Hosein, but Azam and Peter Siddle added an unbeaten 34 runs for the ninth wicket. Azam finished with four fours and five sixes from 46 balls, while Siddle was unbeaten on six.
Moqim was the Scorchers’ most economical wicket-taker with three for 21 from four overs. Couch claimed three for 49, while Hosein took one for 24. Ashton Agar conceded only 20 runs from his four overs.
The Scorchers lost Andre Fletcher for one in the opening over of their reply before Joel Curtis made 16 from 13 balls. Mudassar accounted for both batters, while Siddle removed Dian Forrester for a seven-ball duck to leave Perth at 29 for three.
D’Arcy Short attempted to rebuild the innings with 43 from 38 balls, sharing stands of 30 with Usman Khan and 23 with Captain Ashton Turner. Khan made 14 and Turner contributed 13, but neither was able to build a major innings.
The Scorchers slipped to 103 for seven when Short was bowled by Siddle. Mudassar then removed Jhye Richardson for two, leaving Perth struggling at 107 for eight in the 18th over.
Hosein and Couch revived the chase with a 39-run ninth-wicket partnership. Couch struck an unbeaten 23 from 12 balls, including one four and two sixes, while Hosein made 19 from 12 deliveries.
However, Mudassar dismissed Hosein with the fifth ball of the final over, with Allen completing the catch. Moqim took a single from the last delivery as the Scorchers finished five runs short.
Siddle ended with two for 31, while Allen, Immanuel and Stow collected one wicket each. Azam was named Player of the Match.