Match Details

SO vs WF, 3rd T20, MLC 2023 summary

148-5(19.4)

Seattle Orcas won by 5 wickets 🏆

(20.0)144-7

Match info

Summary

Scorecard

Commentary

That brings us to the end of the third match of the MLC 2023. Seattle Orcas clinch a 5-wicket victory over Washington Freedom in a last-over thriller. Join us tomorrow as the Orcas take on the San Francisco Unicorns and stay tuned for all the upcoming games from all around the globe. For now, it's me Megh Mandaliya signing off along with my co-commentator Saipavan Janaki and scorer/analyst Ashok Dayma. Cheers!

Wayne Parnell (Seattle Orcas Captain): "Obviously, we had some senior players putting up their hands but it was also pleasing to see locals getting involved. It was a good effort overall but we can always get better. You don't wanna complicate things too much in T20 cricket. Also, it was a fresh wicket so we didn't know what to expect. So, happy with the performance. It was about keeping things simple and the guys played really well. I also think with the bigger side and the smaller side and also with the wind direction, the guys played really well."

Moises Henriques (Washington Freedom Captain): " I was a good game of cricket. The surface looks like a brand-new tournament. This is the first game and little up and downs. I'm pretty excited for the next games. I felt there were a few deliveries that were kept low, it got easier to bat when the ball got older. We fought our way to get to 140. Yeah, I think the fact that we took the game at the end, boys tried for best I can't ask for anything more. we come back Sunday and how will perform well. "

Imad Wasim (Player of the Match): "I thought the wicket was really good in the first half and we bowled really well to restrict them to around 150. It was tough in the second half maybe because the lights were on and we had to grind it out. My plan was to be calm and see the scorecard. Hetmyer and Nauman played really and credit goes to them. But the wicket was doing a bit, so we had to keep rotating the strike. In powerplay, it's hard to score. Every team is losing wickets and we have seen that. I just tried to grind it out in the middle."

Power Hitter of the Match: Nauman Anwar (95 m maximum)

Play of the day: Anrich Nortje

10:02 AM IST, 11:32 PM Local Time | Time for the presentation ceremony...

Shimron Hetmyer (Seattle Orcas): "Yeah, it was difficult to bat and it was more difficult from the first innings. We have to play according to the situation. I think it is all about what the team wants, my job is to go out and do the job for the team. It's really hot early with the now comfortable good, crowd really good. I think it focuses again and we remember good things and bad also so that will learn."

9:53 AM IST, 11:23 PM Local Time | The Seattle Orcas have started their Major League Cricket campaign with a victory! Shubham Ranjane hits the winning runs and it has been a fantastic performance from the right-hander under pressure. The Orcas have defeated Washington Freedom by 5 wickets in a last-over thriller. It was a stuttering innings from the Orcas but they manage to bag their first maiden victory in Major League Cricket.

Chasing a slightly below-par score of 145, Quinton de Kock powered the Orcas to a decent start by collecting some early boundaries but his South African counterpart Anrich Nortje removed the southpaw for 10(11) and gave an early setback to Seattle. Nauman Anwar and Shehan Jayasuriya paired up to absorb the pressure but they batted sedately as Orcas only managed to secure 34 runs off the powerplay. Jayasuriya eventually succumbed to pressure and was outwitted by Akeal Hosein in the 7th over.

Skipper Moises Henriques brought himself into the attack in the following over and scalped a massive breakthrough of Heinrich Klaasen 1(3) to hand Freedom a commanding position in the contest. Nauman Anwar and Imad Wasim kept pegging away and added 53 runs for the 4th wicket but the Freedom bowlers were successful in drying up the boundaries in the middle overs. Anwar 48(37) tried to break the shackles but was beaten by Dane Piedt.

Shimron Hetmyer and Wasim were unable to time the ball but they managed to drag the game at the cue end of the innings. The Guyanese southpaw Hetmyer was dropped by Saurabh Netravalkar in the 18th over and he punished Freedom by swatting a much-needed maximum in the penultimate ball of the over. Wasim 43*(38) and Hetmyer orchestrated 11 runs of the following over and ensured a victory. Hetmyer was dismissed in the final over 23(19) but Shubham Ranjane scored back-to-back boundaries and made sure there were no more hiccups in the chase.

Earlier in the day, after being invited to bat first, Imad Wasim provided an early breakthrough to the Orcas by uprooting the Australian opener Matthew Short 2(3) in the first over of the contest. The Orcas’ skipper Wayne Parnell then trapped Mukhtar Ahmed 5(5) on the front pad with a brilliant nip-backer. Having lost two quick wickets inside the powerplay, the New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips stepped on the gas straightaway and released some pressure. However, his counterattacking innings of 20(13) was ceased by Cameron Gannon.

Washington Freedom managed to orchestrate 47 runs off the powerplay after some early blows as skipper Moises Henriques joined forces with Andries Gous to stabilize the innings. Both the right-handers batted with patience and added a much-needed 44 runs for the 4th wicket. The left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh broke their stand as Gous 28(33) holed out in the deep. To aggravate the situation, Henriques also threw his wicket away in the following over after accumulating 24(19).

The left-arm spin duo of Imad Wasin and Harmeet Singh stemmed the flow of runs in the middle overs as the Washington innings went haywire. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals but a valiant knock from Akeal Hosein 33*(22) helped them post a respectable total on board. Harmeet Singh (2/24) was the pick of the bowlers for the Orcas. Skipper Wayne Parnell also clinched a couple of wickets despite being a touch expensive. Stick around for the post-match presentation!