MLC 2025
For the third successive game, Hetmyer was named player of the match. © MLC
Three wins. All through Shimron Hetmyer. The West Indian played batting protagonist for Seattle Orcas once again as they downed table-toppers San Francisco Unicorns to solidify their playoff chances. In an eerie coincidence, Hetmyer was once again left to do the heavy-lifting in chase and responded well as his unbeaten 78 off 37 balls – laced with four fours and seven sixes – powered his team past the finish line in the 20th over. This result doesn’t bode well for the bottom-two sides – MI New York and LA Knight Riders, who are now four points behind fourth spot.
On a slow surface in Lauderhill, the Unicorns started well despite Matthew Short’s exit in the opening over as they managed 51/2 in the PowerPlay. Jake Fraser-McGurk fell after a fiery cameo in the eighth over but Sanjay Krishnamurthi offered some middle-overs impetus with his six-hitting. Even as Tim Seifert struggled to get going at the other end, Krishnamurthi carried his team to 100/3 in 12 overs, setting them up for a big total. Waqar Salamkheil however, ruffled feathers with the wicket of Krishnamurthi in the 15th over. Kyle Mayers and Gerald Coetzee followed that up with two exceptional overs at the death for just seven runs but Seifert, Hassan Khan and Romario Shepherd picked up 40 runs off the last three overs to help their side finish with 168/5.
The Unicorns then carried this late momentum into the second innings as their bowling accuracy caused problems for the Orcas. Steven Taylor, brought in for this fixture, fell for a 10-ball duck, while Mayers trudged back for an eight-ball three – both falling to Xavier Bartlett. Orcas then limped to 31/2 in six overs. Shayan Jahangir attempted a violent turnaround by going after Shepherd in an 18-run eighth over but the Orcas lost him and Sikandar Raza in the 10th over, leaving the floor open for more Hetmyer magic.
The left-hander got going with three sixes in his first seven deliveries to signal his intent but Shepherd struck to remove Heinrich Klaasen in the 13th over. Hetmyer meanwhile took runs off Short and Shepherd to take the equation down to 55 off 30 balls. Hetmyer and Aaron Jones smartly went about business as the former hit the first ball of the 16th over – from Short – for a six and then the two batters collected four singles to keep up with the asking rate.
Hetmyer welcomed Liam Plunkett back into the attack with another six off the first ball of the over. Plunkett however, saw the back of Jones who tonked a short ball straight to the deep square leg fielder. Yet, 15 runs came off the erratic over from the ex-England pacer, leaving Orcas to chase 30 off 3 overs. For the third over in a row, Hetmyer began with a six – this time off Brody Couch. Couch did well to mix his lengths up for the next four balls but Coetzee put a short ball away to the third man fence to close out another successful over for the chasers. Bartlett returned in the penultimate over to concede nine and leave Shepherd to defend eight off six balls. Hetmyer started it with a dot but then tonked the second ball high into the stands over long-on and then cut one through the off-side to collect the winning runs.
Brief Scores: San Francisco Unicorns 168/5 in 20 overs (Sanjay Krishnamurthi 41, Jake Fraser-McGurk 35; Ayan Desai 2-32) lost to Seattle Orcas 169/6 in 19.3 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 78*, Shayan Jahangir 36; Xavier Bartlett 2-24) by 4 wickets
© Cricbuzz
