SF vs Seattle, 22nd Match at Lauderhill, MLC, Jul 01 2025 - Match Result

That concludes today's MLC action. Thank you so much for tuning in. We hope to see you tomorrow. Sayonara!

Sikandar Raza: "After the first game, I thought there was a lot of belief, because chasing 237, there were a lot of good things that a lot of us did as well. So that belief, that energy, sort of we took that into the next game, and now we got that energy today as well. The beauty about this is that we keep winning the games in the very last over when it's crunch, the boys are standing up in crunch moments. And special mention to Hetty [Hetmyer], man is just doing a one-man show in every game, but it takes somebody to stand up, especially when the team is down five-nil. And he's done that, and hopefully he can drag a few more of us with him as well. [Bowling performance] You'll never have a perfect game. Which I really enjoy, because then there's always something to work on. I thought in that wicket as well, if somebody had said that to us that you'll be chasing 160-170 would you take that? And I would have taken that. The team that is top of the table, as well, the team that has scored the highest runs in this tournament as well. And I know it's a different venue, but still, there's a lot of firepower they have [Unicorns]. So I thought the bowling performance was good. I'm really happy with that. If we can just sharpen up our fielding a little bit as well, then that could help us save 5-10 extra runs or more as well, and on a wicket like that, against an opposition like that, it could go a long way. But I'm just happy with the win at one stage. So there were a lot of eyes on us, because the management had to make a few decisions halfway through the tournament, and there was an outside chance that it could put us down as well. But we all got together, all the locals and the senior boys and the overseas, and we said, it is what it is. This is a professional sport as well, and things have to be done professionally. If the management has made that decision, we just go out there and back that decision. But most importantly, we back each other as well and actually play for our own pride. I mean, we're not a team that should be losing five out of five, so let's just play for one another, play for ourselves as well and put our best foot forward and see where it takes us but most importantly, let's actually start to have fun and make some beautiful memories that will last us a lifetime, and suddenly, that thing has worked beautifully."

Most Valuable Player, Shimron Hetmyer: "I guess prayers help. Me and my wife do a lot of praying. It just helps us a little bit, and also a clear mind helps because I guess in different situations, you could think that you have to play differently, but I guess right now I'm not thinking like overthinking the game really. I'm just going out and executing and trying to play my strong shots, and so far, it's been working. I guess now, I'm trying to access the offside a lot more than I used to. I think before, I was just always trying to drag the ball leg-side. And that was one of the dumb faults that I had. But now I'm trying to hold my shape for as long as possible, and I'm trying to hit the ball where it's going, and so far, I've been doing a decent enough job. I just have to keep working on it. It's just to make sure that the run-rate doesn't get above 12, really. 10 for me is fine, but once it gets above 12, that takes just a little bit more doing. So I just go down to the other partner if he's not striking the ball, I try as much as possible to to give him some energy based, as we say in the Caribbean, some energy and for him to just go out, and for him to also be positive, and to play these strong shots as well, if he can't, just give it back to me, and then I'll see what I can get. [Winning the battle against Romario Shepherd] I think so [laughter]. He is a good friend of mine. So I'm not bragging too much because he still has to bowl in the nets so I don't know what's gonna happen."

Matthew Short: "[Pitch] There was a touch tacky. The wicket's been undercover for a fair bit today. We knew that was going to be the case. I think we had to battle a little bit smarter. Look, to be honest, we didn't bat too badly. Maybe they bowled really well towards the end of their innings. We probably left a few out there late. Probably things to learn for the next game. [Promote Shepherd or Bartlett up the order] Oh, look, it's definitely mentioned. Looking back in hindsight, you see Sheph get out there and hit a couple of sixes. But we have got Tim Seifert, a powerful hitter. Hassan Khan's been going at a 230 strike rate for the tournament. They're both batters in their own right. [Second innings] There's probably a similar wicket, still a bit tacky. I think once the lights or the sun went down, it got a bit dewy. It's pretty wet out here, a bit sweaty as well. It's a day game, next game here, so that might be a different challenge. But, coming into the last game here might be similar conditions."

10:50 pm You can't count out Hetmyer and the Seattle Orcas! The Unicorns have now lost two in a row, while the Orcas have won three straight! From the very beginning, both Bartlett and Couch began swinging the ball, making things difficult for the opening batters, particularly Steven Taylor. Bartlett was particularly devastating with the new ball, claiming two wickets in the Powerplay. Shayan Jahangir did manage to break free with some beautiful shots, but then Gore stepped up and took two wickets in his very first over! First, he orchestrated a run-out to dismiss Raza all by himself, and then, with the very next ball, he clean bowled Shayan Jahangir. But then came Hetmyer, the man in red-hot form! He strode to the crease and immediately smashed three massive sixes in quick succession, completely flipping the tempo. There was a huge chance to run out Hetmyer in the 14th over; he was well short of his ground! But in a series of errors, Seifert surprisingly didn't remove the bails, choosing instead to toss the ball to the bowler's end. Talk about fortune favoring the brave! Hetmyer remained at the crease right to the end, scoring an incredible 78 runs off just 37 balls, including four fours and seven sixes. Bartlett was economical and picked up two wickets, and Couch also maintained excellent lines and lengths. All of them bowled brilliantly to the Orcas' batters, except for one player - and you don't need to be a genius to guess who that was!

Mustafa Moudi : "Hetmyer is now the 3rd Highest Run Scorer this season, only behind Finn Allen and Faf Du Plessis. Funnily, his Highest Score is 97 but his Average is 102 !!"

anish: "Hettie remained unbeaten in straight third match with fifty plus score. What a player !"

Seattle Orcas won by 4 wickets

Shepherd to bowl the last over. 8 runs needed from 6 balls

Bartlett to bowl the penultimate over, 18 off 12 now

Shane Watson can't believe it, shakes his head, sitting at the Unicorns dugout.

Mustafa Moudi : "Really Happy to see Hetmyer coming back to form after a terrible IPL followed by an ordinary outing against England. He has won the last 2 matches for SEO, staying unbeaten and winning the POTM both the times. Time for a Hattrick tonight !!"

30 runs needed off 18 balls, Couch to bowl out.