Hollywood, July 12: Seattle Orcas signed off from the 2026 Major League Cricket season on an emphatic note with a persuasive all-round performance to down Washington Freedom by a whopping margin of 88 runs in match nine held here Wednesday. Having set a challenging target of 227 for 6, the Orcas bowled their opponents out for just 139 in 16.2 overs to secure a vital victory.
After winning the toss and batting first, Seattle started slowly losing an early wicket but put together some solid partnerships to give themselves a platform. The innings blew up to a great extent in the last 3 overs as Marcus Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer went berserk against the Washington bowlers. With some big boundaries and sixes, Stoinis produced an explosive cameo to make the most of the death overs. Together with Hetmyer, he led Seattle to a total of 223 without loss, an imposing effort that left Washington requiring 224 to put an end to Windies dominance.
The zero was always coming as the pace attack of Seattle struck again and again inside its powerplay to keep Washington Freedom’s chase off little else other than life support. With the ball, Jasdeep Singh was at his best achieving a brilliant spell that riled through any resistance in the batting order. The ability of his men to bowl disciplined lines and get the ball moving produced a couple of vital breakthroughs including that of experienced all-rounder Sean Abbot which left Washington reeling at 42 for 5 in the first six overs.
Washington was unable to recover from the early collapse, though their middle order put up a brief fight. The run rate needed kept climbing, putting batters in danger of more risky shots that contributed to the falling wickets. The Seattle bowlers bowled with relentless pressure throughout the innings well backed up by the fielders to make sure that no substantial contribution came from any of their batsmen.
Jasdeep bowled an unforgettable five wicket haul and completed as the leading bowler of the match and also became Player of Match for his Match Winning Performance. Seattle’s batters notched a sizable total in the first dig and his spell subsequently wrapped up the match.
The thorough victory gave Seattle Orcas a large jump in the course stand insights even as emphasizing their equilibrium with bat and ball. It was then a genuine team effort, with Stoinis and Hetmyer finishing explosively before Jasdeep Singh delivered a superb bowling performance. Washington Freedom will be looking to bounce back from their heaviest defeat of the season with particular focus on their top-order woes and the closing stages of the first innings where they appear unable to stop runs flowing.
