By Mosess Ochieng
Washington Freedom narrowly defeated the Seattle Orcas by five wickets in a tight, low-scoring match of the 2024 Cognizant Major League Cricket at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Thursday.
The Seattle Orcas were overwhelmed by the fast bowling duo of Lockie Ferguson and Saurabh Netravalkar, who together claimed seven wickets. After being sent in to bat, the Orcas managed only 124 runs. Heinrich Klaasen was the sole bright spot, scoring 51 off 30 balls, but with the rest of the lineup collapsing quickly, the team fell short of a competitive total.
Ferguson and Netravalkar each dismissed an opener during the powerplay, putting the Orcas on the back foot. Despite losing partners who got starts, Klaasen held the innings together at one end. Ferguson ended Quinton de Kock’s innings at 24 and then removed both Imad Wasim and Hammad Azam in the same over. Meanwhile, Marco Jansen, Klaasen’s South African teammate, dismissed Klaasen, and Netravalkar cleaned up the tail with a couple of wickets.
Chasing 124 was expected to be simple for Freedom, but it became tricky when Travis Head was dismissed for a duck on the second ball by Wasim. The situation worsened as Rachin Ravindra, Steven Smith, and Mukhtar Ahmed were dismissed in quick succession. At 53/4, Freedom was in a precarious spot, further troubled by Glenn Maxwell’s fall for 11. However, Lahiru Milantha and Obus Pienaar steadied the innings with an unbeaten 63-run partnership for the sixth wicket, ensuring Freedom reached the target without further setbacks.
Earlier in the game, the Seattle Orcas began their innings on a shaky note. Nauman Anwar was dismissed for just 3 runs off 9 balls by Saurabh Netravalkar in the second over. The Orcas’ batters found it difficult to speed up their scoring on the slow pitch, accumulating only 35 runs during the Powerplay. Ryan Rickelton was also dismissed for 4 off 11 balls by Lockie Ferguson in the sixth over.
Meanwhile, the Washington bowlers kept the following batters in check. Ferguson claimed two wickets in the 17th over, completing his spell with four wickets. He dismissed Imad Wasim (4 off 6) and Hammad Azam (4 off 9) in his final over. Netravalkar then removed Harmeet Singh (2 off 3) in the subsequent over, leaving Seattle in trouble at 112/8 after 18 overs.
“It was a hard-fought game. The top order didn’t get off to a great start, but Lahiru Milantha and Obus Pienaar played smart cricket and got the job done. It was a slow and low wicket, and all the bowlers did a good job. We had a few hiccups with the bat, but I’m glad we came out on the winning front. The wicket got a tad slow, so it was important to capitalize on the powerplay. It would have been easier if someone from the top order had made a 50-60, but I’m happy that the middle and lower order got their chance, and they came out victorious,” Steve Smith, the Washington Freedom skipper, said to the press.