Seattle Orcas bounced back from an opening loss to Texas Super Kings with a five-wicket win over Washington Freedom. Set 217, they reached 219/5 in 17.4 overs, and the win lifted them to third in the table. Tim Seifert has 182 runs at a strike rate of 184, Shayan Jahangir has made 95 across the last two games at 170, and Shimron Hetmyer has scored 348 runs in his last ten matches at a strike rate of 202.32, averaging 58.00.
The concern for Seattle is the attack, which has conceded more than 210 in consecutive matches. Harmeet Singh’s left-arm spin is vital in the middle overs, with seven wickets in his last nine games at an economy of 7.74, and Ottniel Baartman, who has five wickets at 10.42 an over, must improve with the new ball.
Los Angeles Knight Riders are second in the table after a seven-wicket win over San Francisco Unicorns, in which they chased a revised target of 154 in 13.4 overs. Andre Fletcher made an unbeaten 56 off 31 and Unmukt Chand added 27 off 19 after the side slipped from 37/0 to 37/3. Sunil Narine took 2/33, and Andre Russell, Jason Holder and Shadley van Schalkwyk offer variety.
It is a contest of Seattle’s hitting against the Knight Riders’ bowling variety, and our preview leans to Seattle if their bowlers can hold their length.