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San Francisco Unicorns vs Desert Vipers Global Super League Predictions - on-fire Vipers to clinch final spot

Simon Lewis

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Last updated: 30 Jul 2026

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Simon Lewis 30 Jul 2026

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The San Francisco Unicorns pulled off a great win over the Lahore Qalandars by seven wickets to slip into the playoffs.
The Vipers won back-to-back matches to secure their playoff spot.
The Vipers beat the Unicorns by nine wickets three days ago.

Expired

Rilee Rossouw scored 50 off 31 balls against the Scorchers (Getty Images).

San Francisco Unicorns vs Desert Vipers Predictions

Both sides have two wins and two defeats in their four matches in the tournament, but the Vipers are on a two-match winning streak and have the momentum needed to claim a spot in the final.

San Francisco Unicorns vs Desert Vipers Predictions
Head-to-Head
San Francisco Unicorns Form
Desert Vipers Form
Team news

San Francisco Unicorns’ Hammad Azam has scored 61*, 64*, 21* & 18* in his last 4 knocks.
San Francisco Unicorns’ Tim Robinson has scores of 38, 24, 46 & 21 in his last 4 innings.
San Francisco Unicorns’ Callum Stow took 4/25 in the win over the Qalandars.
Desert Vipers’ Rilee Rossouw has scored 61, 38* & 50 in his last 3 matches.
Desert Vipers’ Saiteja Mukkamalla has scores of 47 & 52* in his last 5 innings.
Desert Vipers’ Khary Pierre has taken 7 wickets in his last 4 matches.

Head-to-Head

Desert Vipers have won their only previous meeting with the San Francisco Unicorns, which was in their group match three days ago.

San Francisco Unicorns Form

San Francisco Unicorns head into the Eliminator after finishing second on the Global Super League 2026 points table. They now face Desert Vipers with a place in the next stage on the line.

The Unicorns come into the contest with momentum after a seven-wicket win over Lahore Qalandars in their previous match. Lahore made a strong start after batting first, with Shamyl Hussain and Shayan Jahangir adding 74 for the opening wicket. Hussain scored 36, while Jahangir top-scored with 61 off 50 balls, hitting two fours and four sixes.

However, San Francisco fought back well after breaking the opening stand. Lahore lost their rhythm through the middle overs and were held to 152/6, a total that proved short of what they needed.

In reply, the Unicorns made a confident start through Tim Robinson and Connor Esterhuizen, who scored 21 and 29 respectively. Hassan Khan then took charge of the chase with a powerful unbeaten 53, guiding San Francisco home in the 16th over with seven wickets in hand.

Hammad Azam remains their leading run-scorer in the tournament with 164 runs, while Callum Stow has been their most successful bowler with six wickets. Both players will have important roles as the Unicorns look to carry their strong finish into the knockout stage.

Desert Vipers Form

Desert Vipers finished third after the league stage and now meet San Francisco Unicorns in a high-pressure Eliminator.

Their previous match ended in a tense one-wicket win over Perth Scorchers. Perth batted first but struggled to build momentum after D’Arcy Short, Joel Curtis and Usman Khan all fell cheaply. Andre Fletcher made 40 and Akeal Hosein added 32, but the rest of the batting line-up failed to push on as the Scorchers were restricted to 112/6.

The chase was far from straightforward for the Vipers. They slipped to 46/4 inside nine overs and appeared to be in trouble before Rilee Rossouw produced a vital counter-attacking innings. He struck 50 off just 31 balls, hitting four fours and three sixes to keep the Vipers alive.

Even then, wickets continued to fall and the result went down to the final over. Vitel Lawes eventually kept his composure at number 11, striking an important boundary to seal the win with just one wicket remaining.

Rossouw has been the Vipers’ top run-scorer this season with 158 runs, while Shadab Khan leads their bowling charts with eight wickets. If both deliver again, the Vipers will believe they can edge another tight contest.

Team news

The Unicorns have scored in the 150s in each of their four matches in the tournament, while the Vipers have fluctuated from scores of 116/9 to 205/6. This makes it hard to predict a winner, but I’m backing the Vipers to make it three wins on the bounce.

San Francisco Unicorns squad: Anirudh Immanuel, Callum Stow, Connor Esterhuizen, Fabian Allen, Ghulam Mudassar, Gideon Peters, Hammad Azam, Hassan Khan, Karima Gore, Oliver John Peake, Peter Siddle, Saideep Ganesh, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Tim Robinson.

Desert Vipers squad: Andries Gous, Bevon Jacobs, Cameron Green, Daryl Mitchell, Khary Pierre, Kyle Mayers, Matiullah Khan, Nathan Smith, Ramon Simmonds, Rilee Rossouw, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Sanjay Pahal, Shadab Khan, Vriitya Aravind, Zachary Carter.

Verdict

San Francisco Unicorns v Desert Vipers

The Desert Vipers are tipped to beat the Unicorns for the second time in four days. Rilee Rossouw looks good to score runs for the fourth innings in a row, while Hammad Azam is looking good with the bat. Callum Stow and Khary Pierre both look worth backing to pick up wickets again.

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