Heinrich Klaasen’s men arrived in Dallas with one goal: to change the fortunes of their season. Despite sparks of individual brilliance and several inspiring batting performances throughout their challenging campaign thus far, the Seattle Orcas have lacked the consistency to close out tight contests. A similar theme continued during their potentially season-defining clash with the Los Angeles Knight Riders.

From ball one, both openers from the Seattle Orcas exhibited aggressive intent as David Warner and Shayan Jahangir challenged an experienced bowling attack. Jahangir was 22 (9) after the first two, during which he shuffled down the crease to strike Corné Dry for a stunning 86-meter six over wide long-off. After a blistering start, Jahangir looked to attack Jason Holder by advancing down the crease but wasn’t able to time the shot, edging it to Unmukt Chand. Jahangir's 26(15) was followed by a measured end to the powerplay as Aaron Jones and Warner looked to build a steady partnership. The pair, who were struggling to find boundaries in the early middle overs, reached 81-1 after 10 before Andre Russell cleaned up Warner with a full delivery that took the Australian batsman’s inside edge.

With the openers dismissed, in walked Kyle Mayers. The West Indian power hitter needed to build an innings that could push the Seattle Orcas to a defendable total. In what has been a pattern in previous games, Mayers started slow, taking two overs to find his feet before Corné Dry’s 17-run 14th over, where both Jones and Mayers cleared the ropes. Like Jahangir, however, Mayers would prematurely depart after a powerful strike against the wind, and towards the long boundaries was caught in the deep.

Captain Heinrich Klaasen failed to stamp his authority on the scoreboard as the Proteas star was caught on the leg side after flicking a wide full delivery on off stump from Andre Russell. With Klaasen gone for just 4(6), the pressure mounted on the lower middle order. Shimron Hetmyer and Sikander Raza turned up the heat, both striking at over 130, as the Seattle Orcas reached 175 in the 19th over. This momentum was unable to translate to a lackluster final over from Russell, where only 2 runs were added to the total, leaving the Knight Riders with a target of 178 to win.

The second innings began with two stunning overs from Cameron Gannon and Harmeet Singh. After a tight opening over, Singh picked up the valuable wicket of Alex Hales after a leading edge was caught by Raza. The Englishman who has over 2000 T20I runs to his name was expected to take on Singh but lost the early battle. Cameron Gannon returned from the other end and quickly picked up the Seattle Orcas' 2nd wicket with a quick back of the length delivery that took off the pitch and beat Nitish Kumar as a faint edge carried to Raza.

Despite the early success, the Seattle Orcas were made to endure a devastating onslaught from Chand and Saif Badar. Chand, who was famously a rising prospect for Indian cricket in the early 2010s and captained the winning 2012 U-19 WC side, exhibited incredible balance and footwork as he targeted Gannon and Singh. The American batsman continued to pile on the runs with a deep partnership with Badar. It wasn’t until the 16th over that the game-changing partnership was broken with Badar departing for 54(32). Soon after, Jessy Singh provided the Seattle Orcas hope with a ripper that breached Rovman Powell’s defense. It was a little too late for the Seattle Orcas as fellow countryman Sherfane Rutherford joined proceedings and was able to plug away with Chand as the pair completed the run chase with 10 balls to spare, securing their first win of the season. Captain Klaasen was clear in his reflection of the side's performance, emphasizing the lack of key boundary hitting and overall execution.

The Seattle Orcas must now regroup and prepare for a must-win clash against the San Francisco Unicorns on Wednesday.

- Written by Bharat Singh.