A crucial half-century from Unmukt Chand (62) ensured the Los Angeles Knight Riders defeated the Seattle Orcas by four wickets and five balls to spare in the 15th match of the 2024 Cognizant Major League Cricket at Church Street Park, Morrisville on Wednesday. Ryan Rickelton’s (89) breathtaking 52-ball knock for the Seattle Orcas was ultimately in vain.

Chasing a below-par score, the Los Angeles Knight Riders orchestrated a comfortable run chase. Sunil Narine’s (8) lean run continued when Spencer Johnson dismissed him in the second over, while Jason Roy (26) and Unmukt Chand (62) went on to build an important partnership. At the end of the powerplay, the Los Angeles Knight Riders were 47/1.

The 58-run alliance between Roy and Chand was derailed by Harmeet Singh in the 10th over. Unmukt Chand went on to bring up his half-century in 38 deliveries, comprising three sixes and three fours. In the 17th over, Chand fell to Harmeet Singh, but at 120/5, the Knight Riders were in a strong position.

Nitish Kumar (12) and Saif Badar (18*) came together for a brief partnership before Andre Russell (10) made a quick contribution to ensure the Los Angeles Knight Riders secured victory with balls to spare. Harmeet Singh (2/27) and Cameron Gannon (2/35) were the pick of the Orcas bowling efforts.

Earlier in the day, the Seattle Orcas suffered an early setback when Shehan Jayasuriya (2) was dismissed by Corne Dry. Soon after, Quinton de Kock (0) was run out without troubling the scorers. Opener Ryan Rickelton continued his fine form and quickly accumulated runs as he was joined by Heinrich Klaasen. By the end of the powerplay, the Seattle Orcas were placed at 36/2, with Rickelton having scored 27 of those runs.

In the ninth over, Rickelton shifted into another gear, hammering Waqar Salamkheil for two consecutive sixes and two fours in a 22-run over. Remarkably, no other batsman besides Rickelton had scored a boundary for the Orcas in the first 10 overs. Rickelton brought up his half-century in just 28 deliveries, featuring five maximums and four boundaries. Meanwhile, Klaasen (23) played a more guarded knock, providing stability at the other end until he was unfortunately run out in the 12th over at 90/3.

While Rickelton continued to flourish, striking another six and four fours, the lack of support around him meant the Orcas failed to build any more concrete partnerships. Aaron Jones (9) and Michael Bracewell (5) were castled by the experienced Sunil Narine and Andre Russell before Rickelton would eventually perish just shy of a century, dismissed by Spencer Johnson in the 19th over. The Seattle Orcas finished on 142/6 in 20 overs.

Brief Scores: Los Angeles Knight Riders 143/6 (Unmukt Chand 62, Jason Roy 27, Harmeet Singh 2/27, Cameron Gannon 2/25) beat Seattle Orcas 142/6 (Ryan Rickelton 82, Heinrich Klaasen 23, Corne Dry 1/8, Andre Russel 1/15) by 4 wickets