Heinrich Klassen helps Seattle Orcas defeat San Francisco Unicorns by 35 runs in MLC 2023

Heinrich Klaasen’s fifty helped his side, Seattle Orcas, defeat Seattle Orcas the San Francisco Unicorns by 35 runs in the fourth encounter of the Major League Cricket (MLC) at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas on Saturday, July 15. The Orcas bundled out San Francisco Unicorns in 18 overs where they were able to score 142 runs in reply to Orcas’ score of 177/4.

Orcas won the toss and elected to bat first. While batting first, the side didn’t have a great start as they lose the wicket of Quinton De Kock inside the first two overs. After that, Nauman Anwar and Shehan Jayasuriya built up a partnership and took their team to 50 runs in the first six overs. However, Anwar was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 30 runs on the last ball of the powerplay.

Good to get a good game under the belt so early in the competition: Heinrich Klassen

After Anwar’s wicket, Klassen came into the crease. Along with Jayasuriya, he took Orcas to 100 runs with a brilliant partnership. Jayasuriya was not able to capitalize on the start he made and got dismissed after scoring 33 runs. Then, Klaasen took charge, along with Shimron Hetmyer, and took his team to the 150 mark. The South African batter scored 53 runs off 31 balls which helped Orcas to post a total of 177 runs with the loss of four wickets after the completion of 20 overs.

While chasing a target of 178 runs, the San Francisco Unicorns fall short by 35 runs as they were bundled out for 142 runs in the 18-vers they faced while batting. The pick of the bowler for Orcas was Cameron Gannon who snapped four wickets in his spell of 3.5 overs where he conceded 23 runs. Two wickets each were grabbed by Imad Wasim and Andrew Tye while one wicket was taken by Harmeet Singh.

“Good to get a good game under the belt so early in the competition. 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 into the trap of going too hard, and have learned some lessons on my way. It’s just about waiting for the opportunity now,” Klassen was quoted as saying in the post-match interview while receiving the Player of the Match award.