The Shanaka show
Dasun Shanaka starred with an unbeaten 23-ball 58 to help Seattle Orcas to a competitive total of 154/7 against Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR). The Orcas were struggling to get to even 120 at one stage, but Shanaka staged a couple of 41-run stands together first with Harmeet Singh (19) and Cameron Gannon (4) to take their total past 150.
Spinners Sunil Narine (2/17) and Fabian Allen (2/18) put the breaks on initially with their miserly spells, but pacers Ali Khan and Schadley van Schalkwyk leaked 90 runs between them in eight overs, which eventually led to
Shanaka brought up his fifty off just 21 deliveries, hitting five sixes and as many fours in his innings. In reply, the Knight Riders got off to a good start once again with Colin Munro (33) and Andre Fletcher (23), but they found no support from the others as they fell 20 runs short in the end.
LAKR have now lost two games in a row and are currently fourth on the Major League Cricket (MLC) points table. The Orcas, on the other hand, move to second place.
Record-Breaking powerplay
The second game of the day saw a high-scoring affair with San Francisco Unicorns (SFU) piling on 104/1 in the powerplay, chasing 191 against the Washington Freedom. This is the most runs scored in the powerplay in MLC history.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius (66) and Finn Allen (45) made a mockery of the chase and played a massive role in their side claiming an eight-wicket victory with 29 balls to spare.
After they laid the foundation, Matthew Short (34) and Aaron Hardie (42) ensured there were no further hiccups.
For the Freedom, Andries Gous played an outstanding knock, hitting seven sixes on his way to 83 off just 50 deliveries. He found excellent support from Nikhil Chaudhary (32) with whom he put on 59 and a vital 46-run stand with Obus Pienaar (10*), which took their side to 190/4. Mitchell Owen also played a crucial hand at the top, scoring 39 off 23 deliveries.
The Unicorns are now at the top of the table, while Freedom are rooted to the bottom. With plenty of matches left, we could still see plenty of shifts in the table, as all teams are still with a shout of making it to the payoffs.
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