A major controversy sparked debate among fans and game lovers when Matthew Short fired a dead delivery to batter Michael Bracewell during the eliminator of the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025 at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas. San Francisco Unicorns and MI New York met each other on July 10, after the former finished in the third position of the points table while New York was in fourth.

The incident happened on the very first ball of the ninth over. The New York side was comfortable in their chase at 49/2 as the left-handed batter, Michael Bracewell, got ready to face the part-time off-spin of Matthew Short, the captain of the Unicorns. It wasn’t a great evening for the side, which couldn’t handle the pressure of the eliminator with the bat.

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Short tried to fire the ball into the leg side of the southpaw, but on his way to the delivery, the ball slipped out of his hands and flew in the air before ending in the backward point region. The batter had no clue of the entire incident as the umpires called the ball dead. Short went back to his bowling mark with a huge smile on his face as the commentators addressed the incident as ‘spot the ball challenge.’

Watch: Matthew Short’s dead-ball drama stuns MLC 2025

The league had its flaws from the start of the season. The fourth-placed side, MI New York, secured their qualification despite winning just three group-stage encounters in 10 fixtures, with a net run-rate of -0.518. They now faced the third-positioned team, which had seven victories in 10 encounters, boasting a net run-rate of +1.330.

What’s happening there, Matt? 😂 pic.twitter.com/MlmV7My72k

— Cognizant Major League Cricket (@MLCricket) July 10, 2025

Put into bat first, the Unicorns got bundled out for just 131 runs on the board in 19.1 overs. At one point, they were 62/7 in the 12th over. Only Copper Connolly had a double-digit score of 23 besides his name among the top six before Xavier Bartlett displayed his power with the bat, thanks to 44 runs in 24 balls. Trent Boult was excellent with 2/19, while Rushil Ugarkar finished with 3/19.

The chase was not a cakewalk for the New York side. Even after a 43-run opening stand, they kept losing wickets regularly, and their struggling middle order put more pressure on them. Hasan Khan picked 4/30 while Matthew Short, along with his dead-ball stunner, picked 3/22. However, Boult’s unbeaten 22 runs in 13 balls with two sixes in the 19th completed the job.