Seattle Orcas clinch five-wicket win over Washington Freedom in a thriller

Seattle Orcas pulled off a thrilling five-wicket victory over Washington Freedom at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas on Friday.

The Orcas restricted Washington Freedom to 144/7 and then chased down the total in 19.4 overs, as per a press release from MLC.

Asked to bat by the Orcas at the toss, Washington Freedom did not have the best start, losing the wickets of Matthew Short (2) and Mukhtar Ahmed (5) within the first three overs. Nonetheless, Andries Gous (28 in 33 balls) and Glenn Phillips (20 in 13 balls) steadied the ship, and by the time both were dismissed, Washington Freedom were nearing the 100-run mark at 89/4 in 12 overs.

Skipper Moises Henriques (24 in 19 balls) chipped in with an important cameo, but could not extend his stay at the crease. The Washington Freedom were in a spot of bother, having lost half their side for 89 runs. However, Akeal Hosein (33* in 22 balls) took charge at the back end and counter-attacked in the final overs of the innings, propelling the Washington Freedom to 144/7 in their 20 overs.

For Seattle Orcas, it was Wayne Parnell and Harmeet Singh, who picked two wickets each, while Imad Wasim, Cameron Gannon and Andrew Tye bagged one wicket each.

Washington Freedom's Anrich Nortje bowled with fire when the Orcas began their batting innings and eventually, the speedster got the better of his international teammate Quinton de Kock (10). Nauman Anwar at the other end though was building his knock well, and looking to keep Seattle in the game.

Shehan Jayasuriya (6) and Heinrich Klaasen (1) were the next to depart, as Seattle found themselves backed into a corner. Seattle was at 43/3 in 7.2 overs.

Imad Wasim joined Nauman in the 8th over and the duo absorbed the pressure, before going through the gears around the midway mark of the chase. The duo put on what was the biggest partnership in the match, scoring 53 runs from 39 deliveries, to set up the grand finish. Nauman though would not be around for the final stretch, as he was cleaned up for 48 in 37 balls (three fours and three sixes) by Dane Piedt in the 14th over. Seattle was 96/4 at that point.

With the game on a knife-edge with Seattle needing 27 from the final 3 overs, it was up to Imad Wasim and Shimron Hetmyer to apply the finishing touches. The duo did not disappoint, taking the equation down to 6 from 6, however, Hetmyer was castled for 23 (in 19 balls) by Marco Jansen in the second delivery of the final over. But, Shubham Ranjane struck back-to-back boundaries to wrap up the match with two balls to spare.

Imad earned the 'Player of the Match' award for his all-round show.

Brief Scores: Seattle Orcas 148/5 (Nauman Anwar 48, Imad Wasim 43*, Moises Henriques 1/8) beat Washington Freedom 144/7 (Akeal Hosein 33*, Andries Gous 28, Harmeet Singh 2/24) by five wickets. (ANI)