When the first season of Major League Cricket came to a close, the Seattle Orcas showed their class. This year, the result was much different for the team of the Pacific Northwest.
Seattle fell in its final match of MLC 2 to the Texas Super Kings, losing by 37 runs.
It capped a horrid season for the green and gray, as the Orcas managed just two points and finished at the bottom of the table.
Seattle is very South African heavy with its international players, who are coming off a world cup semifinal appearance. To say there were tired legs, would be stating the obvious. “Most of our pros came over straight from the world cup. Even if they won’t agree, they looked a little bit exhausted,” said Orcas All-Rounder Harmeet Singh.
Some of the best South African cricketers have been playing without more than a week’s break for over four months.
This season just wasn’t to be for the Orcas. Like Seattle’s other bat-to-ball franchise, the Mariners, the Orcas could not put consistent runs on the board.
Over the course of the seven games played this season, Seattle batted second in three of them and chased runs successfully in their lone victory. But when the Orcas were required to put up a high number, Seattle continuously dropped the ball.
When opening with the batting, the Orcas have won just one game in their two years of existence. It was all the way back on July 15, 2023, in a win over San Fransisco. But since then, Seattle has lost seven in a row when opening with the paddle.
Despite quite literally nothing bouncing the way of the Orcas in year two, in the final match there looked to be some positives. Ayan Desai made his MLC and Orcas debut taking the ball to start the first over.
With his first ball he took the wicket of a top-class cricketer in Devon Conway via leg before wicket. That ball was later named the play of the game and was the start of a great first match for Desai.
He finished with 2 wickets and 30 runs, and an economy of 7.50 which was the third lowest of all bowlers in the game.
It was just a bleak day with the bat for the Orcas after holding the Super Kings to a pretty manageable 177 after the first innings.
Seattle knew it was going to have to work hard after its top run-scorer Ryan Rickleton was dismissed for a golden duck for the second straight match. Rickleton looked to be the bright spot of the Orca’s 2024 season scoring a century and spent a lot of time on the top of the run scoring table, but in his last two matches never saw a second ball.
No Orca scored more than 26 runs (Quentin de Kock 19 balls), which pales in comparison to the Super Kings’ three players who scored over 29 in the match.
It is a season to forget based on results for the Orcas, but MLC season 2 is a year to look back on as the sport of cricket continues to grow in the United States.
Cameron Gannon of the Seattle Orcas during match twenty one of the Cognizant Major League Cricket season 2 between Seattle Orcas and Texas Super Kings held at the Grand Prairie cricket stadium, Grand Prairie, United States of America (USA) on the 23rd July 2024 Photo by Ron Gaunt / Sportzpics for MLC Credit: Major League Cricket
