Unmukt Chand's sprightly knock helps the Los Angeles Knight Riders end their losing streak. Meanwhile, Seattle Orcas' search for their first win of the season continues.
We hope you enjoyed the coverage as much as we did bringing it to you. The commentators were Darpan Tikiya and Ajay Raghava. The scorer was Ashok Dayma. Feel free to scroll below 👇 and read the summary of the match.
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Jason Holder (Los Angeles Knight Riders captain): " Very important win for us. We needed that momentum. I was very pleased with out bowlers. We were very disciplined and executed our plans. I thought we did well to restrict them to 177. Then, we lost a couple of early wickets but then, we had that excellent partnership. We talked about setting the game up. That is exactly what they did. Kudos to both of them."
Unmukt Chand (POTM): "I think it was an important one for us. I think we bowled well. It is important to go out there and execute our plans. I was hitting the ball well, just wanted to make sure we set up a good base for our power hitters.
That was special. It makes a huge difference when local players step up. Saif, much was due out of him. We kept getting boundaries in the middle which is good."
Most Valuable Player of the Match: Unmukt Chand
Time for the post-match presentation.
Heinrich Klaasen (Seattle Orcas Captain): "It is a tricky one. Today we put ourselves under a lot of pressure. We didn't get enough boundaries. They bowled well but you need to try something which we lacked today. If you go hard at the top, then there's no one at the back to do the job. We batted well in the powerplay and then lost the plot.
Just execute more. We are just missing on lines and length and you get punished at this level.
It is a tough one. It is a do-or-die situation for us now. We have to win four or five in a row to get into the playoffs."
5:04 AM IST, 6:34 PM local time: Los Angeles Knight Riders win by 6 wickets and notch-up the first "W" against their name in season 3.
At the innings break, most of us did think that the Orcas were a few runs short. However, not many would have imagined that the Knight Riders will get over the line so comfortably, especially when they were reduced to 7/2. But that is how cricket goes sometimes. Riding on Unmukt Chand's high quality 86* (54), they get over the line with 10 balls to spare.
It was the kind of knock that validated all the fanfare that has been around Chand's talent for years. Aesthetically he looked solid — played mostly by the book with the odd inventive stroke here or there. But perhaps, what was even better was his temperament. After those early jolts, Knight Riders needed someone to steady the ship while also making sure that they keep up with the rate. Chand put his hand up and made it look rather simple. The biggest highlight came in the 11th over when he smashed Coetzee for 6,0,6,0,4,4.
Of course, Chand needed support from the other end and Saif Badar provided that. Coming out to bat with the team in a spot of bother, he exhibited great maturity in shot selection and forged a massive 139-run partnership with Chand. During the course of it, Badar notched up his maiden T20 fifty.
Earlier in the day, Orcas had won the toss and elected to make the first use of the pitch. For the large part, their innings moved along like an old, rusty bicycle on a muddy road. David Warner and Aaron Jones did get notable scores, but not at the pace that the team would have wanted. Holder's men stifled them with some intelligent bowling, making them hit into the wind most of the times. Andre Russel, who managed to pick up three important wickets of Klaasen, Warner and Hetmeyer was the stand-out. Special mention to Nitish Kumar, who made a mark with his two stunning catches.