LAUDERHILL, Florida, CMC – Shimron Hetmyer as soon as once more proved to be the difference-maker for his Main League Cricket franchise, the Seattle Orcas, delivering a match-winning efficiency to down the high-flying San Francisco Unicorns by 4 wickets right here on Tuesday.
The West Indian’s blistering unbeaten 78 off 37 balls, studded with 4 boundaries and 7 sixes, guided his workforce to victory with three balls to spare, protecting their playoff hopes alive in a tense end.
On a sluggish Lauderhill floor, the Unicorns bought off to a stable begin regardless of dropping captain Matthew Brief early for 2 runs.
Jake Fraser-McGurk with 35 off 18 balls offered early fireworks, whereas Sanjay Krishnamurthi with 41 off 30 anchored the center overs with aggressive strokeplay.
Tim Seifert struggled for fluency however held agency to attain an unbeaten 31 because the decrease order helped to carry the Unicorns to 168-5.
Seattle’s bowlers, led by Ayan Desai with 2-32, saved issues tight at key moments, with Gerald Coetzee and Kyle Mayers conceding simply seven runs in two glorious dying overs.
The chase started disastrously for the Orcas as Xavier Bartlett with 2-24 struck twice within the PowerPlay, eradicating Steven Taylor for a duck and Mayers for simply three.
At 31-2 after six overs, the innings wanted a spark, and Shayan Jahangir’s 36 off 22 offered it with a violent assault on Shepherd within the eighth over. Nonetheless, his dismissal alongside captain Sikandar Raza for 11 within the tenth over left the Orcas reeling at 70-4.
Enter Hetmyer, and the left-hander introduced his arrival with three sixes in his first seven balls, shifting momentum decisively. Regardless of Heinrich Klaasen falling within the thirteenth over for five, Hetmyer saved his cool, expertly manipulating the sector alongside Aaron Jones, who contributed 14 runs.
The equation tightened with 55 wanted off 30 balls, however Hetmyer’s calculated aggression turned the tide.
Shepherd, Bartlett, and Liam Plunkett all felt Hetmyer’s wrath as he launched sixes at the beginning of three consecutive overs. Plunkett’s erratic seventeenth over, which included a towering Hetmyer most and Jones’ dismissal, left Seattle needing 30 off 18.
Brody Sofa bowled a blended 18th over, however Coetzee’s boundary saved the Orcas on monitor. Bartlett’s penultimate over yielded 9 runs, leaving Shepherd to defend eight within the ultimate over.
Hetmyer, nevertheless, wanted simply two balls, smashing a monstrous six over long-on earlier than slicing the successful runs by way of level, sealing an exhilarating victory at 169-6 in 19.3 overs.
