In the 4th match of the Major League Cricket 2023, the Seattle Orcas (SEO) emerged victorious against the San Francisco Unicorns (SFU) at the Grand Prairie Stadium on Saturday night. After winning the toss, the Seattle Orcas elected to bat first.
The Orcas set a challenging target of 177 runs for the Unicorns in their allotted 20 overs. The Orcas’ top-order batters made valuable contributions to the total. Nauman Anwar scored 30 runs, Shehan Jayasuriya scored 33 runs, and Heinrich Klaasen played a superb innings of 53 runs. Shimron Hetmyer also contributed with 36 off 30 balls. The Unicorns’ bowlers struggled to contain the Orcas’ batting lineup, with Liam Plunkett being the most successful bowler, taking two wickets.
Heinrich Klaasen smashes his first fifty of MLC 2023#cricket #SFUvSEO #MLC2023 #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/rwyM8VKLGk
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) July 16, 2023
Chasing the target, the Unicorns stumbled and lost wickets at regular intervals. Despite some aggressive strokes by Matthew Wade (28 runs) and Finn Allen (28 runs), the Unicorns couldn’t maintain the required momentum. Shadab Khan played a valiant knock of 37 runs, but the team fell short of the required total. Cameron Gannon was the pick of the bowlers for the Orcas, taking four wickets, while Imad Wasim and Andrew Tye claimed two wickets each.
Well, the Orcas showcased a dominant performance and secured a 35-run victory over the Unicorns. Klaasen was named the Player of the Match for his impressive batting display.
“Good to get a good game under the belt so early in the competition,” said Klaasen in the post-match presentation.
“Every batter has a few things, I thought we were always one or two boundaries away from getting going, especially with one boundary being short. We will have to put away the bad balls. I’ve fallen to the trap of going too hard, and have learnt some lessons on my way. It’s just about waiting for the opportunity now,” he added.
