Cricket Highlights, 24 July: MLC 2023 (Match 12) – Los Angeles Knight Riders vs Seattle Orcas

Los Angeles Knight Riders vs Seattle Orcas (Match 12) – Highlights

Los Angeles Knight Riders registered an impressive two-wicket victory over Seattle Orcas in the 12th match of Major Cricket League (MCL) 2023. They glimpsed their first win in the tournament after losing four matches in a row. On the other hand, Seattle Orcas suffered their first defeat in the tournament after winning three matches in a row.

After losing the toss and getting to bat first, Seattle Orcas collected 170 runs losing 6 wickets after the scheduled 20 overs. In reply, the Los Angeles Knight Riders reached the port of victory with five balls remaining after losing eight wickets.  

However, Proteas’ batter Rilee Rossouw played a key role in the team’s victory. They won the game with two wickets in hand thanks to his match-winning innings of 78 not out from 38 balls. He was also selected as the player of the match for this extraordinary innings.

Earlier, after winning the toss, the bowlers of Los Angeles Knight Riders did not get off to a good start. Seattle Orcas’ batters scored 51 runs for the loss of two wickets in 6 overs of the power play. Opener Quinton de Kock scored 10 and Nauman Anwar returned to the dressing room with 32 runs.

In the 9th over, one of their batters, Heinrich Klaasen departed for the team’s 81 runs. He scored 25 runs off 13 balls, with 3 fours and 1 six. After that, the team lost wickets at one end at regular intervals but Shehan Jayasuriya held into the wickets at the other end. At the end of 15 overs, the team’s score stood at 120 runs for 5 wickets.

But for Jayasuriya, they managed to score 50 runs by losing only 1 wicket in the last 5 overs. He finally left the field after playing an unbeaten 60 off 45 balls. There were 7 fours and 1 six in his innings. Imad Wasim scored 19 runs off 15 balls. 

All the bowlers except Ali Khan got wickets for the Los Angeles Knight Riders. Adam Zampa took the maximum number of 2 wickets with 26 runs in 4 overs. Besides, Spencer Johnson, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell took 1 wicket each.

Chasing the challenging target of 171 runs, the batsmen of Los Angeles Knight Riders stumbled at the beginning. In the 2nd over of the innings, pacer Cameron Gannon struck twice in the camp of the Los Angeles Knight Riders. He sent wicketkeeper batsmen Jaskaran Malhotra (2) and Gajanand Singh (3) back to the pavilion one by one.

Opener Jason Roy (2) was bowled on the first ball of the 3rd over. As a result, Los Angeles Knight Riders lost three wickets to score just 8 runs. Then Saif Badar (10) got out for the team’s 22 runs and Los Angeles Knight Riders were knocked out of the match.  

From there, Rossouw and Russell continued to try to bring the team back into the match. These two together made a great partnership of 67 runs from 39 balls for the 5th wicket. Rossouw continued to play in his own way at the other end of the wicket even though Russell retired with 37 runs from 29 balls (4 fours and 2 sixes). As a result, the Los Angeles Knight Riders no longer had to go on the back foot.

With a little help from other batsmen in the team, Rossouw eventually left the field winning the game for his team after losing 8 wickets. Rossouw played a devastating innings of 78 runs off 38 balls smashing 3 fours and 7 sixes. Cameron Gannon took 3 wickets and Andrew Tye 2 wickets for Seattle Orcas. Besides Imad, Wayne Parnell and Harmeet Singh scalped 1 wicket each.

Los Angeles Knight Riders are at the bottom of the points table securing only one win in five games. On the other hand, the Seattle Orcas still maintain their top spot despite the defeat. Besides, they’ve also confirmed the qualifiers as the first team of the tournament.

Los Angeles Knight Riders vs Seattle Orcas Scoreboard

Seattle Orcas – 170/6 (20.0)

Los Angeles Knight Riders – 175/8 (19.1)

Result – Los Angeles Knight Riders won by 2 wickets

Player of the match – Rilee Rossouw

Rilee Rossouw

Los Angeles Knight Riders vs Seattle Orcas Playing Xis