In the Seattle Orcas’ fourth match of the 2024 Cognizant Major League Cricket season, the club fell to a 23-run defeat to the San Francisco Unicorns at Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina. Despite the loss for the Orcas, Cameron Gannon impressed with the ball, while Shehan Jayasuriya played made a major impact with the bat.

Orcas captain Heinrich Klaasen won the toss and opted to bowl first on a hot and sultry day in Morrisville. Imad Wasim gave Seattle a brilliant start, conceding only 4 runs in the first over. The Unicorn openers - Jake Fraser-McGurk and Finn Allen - fancied themselves against pace though, taking the aggressive route. Imad helped the Orcas come back, bowling McGurk out.

Allen, joined at the crease by Matt Short, then played well, stitching together a 75-run partnership. Allen would go on to score an 18-ball 34, before Imad dismissed him with a brilliant caught and bowled.

Short would notch up a half-century, before Gannon sent him back to the pavilion, with Harmeet making a good catch in the deep.

The wicket of Short would mark the Orcas comeback into the contest, as Seattle put the brakes on the scoring rate.

The Seattle bowlers were highly disciplined in their line and length and varied their pace brilliantly, taking wickets at regular intervals. Gannon would take two more wickets, finishing with figures of 3/26. Harmeet and Zaman would also pick up a wicket each, as the Orcas restricted the Unicorns to 165/7.

In reply, Seattle had the perfect start, with Shehan Jayasuriya and Ryan Rickelton going on the attack right from the start. The Orcas couldn’t have asked for a better Powerplay, as Seattle scored 54 runs without losing a wicket. The pair were especially severe against pace, playing some glorious shots against the likes of Pat Cummins and Haris Rauf.

The first wicket fell on 76, as Plunkett deceived Rickelton with a brilliant off-cutter, as the South African walked back for 29. Quinton de Kock also could not make much of an impact, as Short dismissed him for 2.

Things would then get tough for Seattle’s batters, with the pitch slowing down and hitting shots becoming tougher and tougher for the batters. Shehan still kept on attacking and would bring up a sizzling half-century, before perishing to Cummins for 54.

Wickets would then continue to tumble in quick succession, as Aaron Jones and Heinrich Klaasen walked back before the Seattle Orcas score reached the 100-run mark.

The Orca would fail to recover our momentum from there, despite Seattle’s lower-order batters trying their best. The slow nature of the pitch and some accurate bowling from the San Francisco Unicorns inflicted the Orcas with a 23-run defeat.

A quick turnaround for the Orcas, as the club next face the Los Angeles Knight Riders on Wednesday in Morrisville.