LAKR 168/5 in 20 Overs (Jason Roy 69(52), David Miller 44*(22); Zaman Khan 2/24 in 4 overs) lost to SO 169/1 in 19.5 Overs (Ryan Rickelton 103*(66), Quinton de Kock 51*(46); Spencer Johnson1/28 in 4 Overs) by 9 wickets
The Los Angeles Knight Riders took on the Seattle Orcas at the Grand Prairie Stadium in a match which was much-anticipated. Both teams aimed to pick up 2 crucial points and move ahead in the tournament on a winning note. Once again, LAKR were put into bat first on a pitch which had quite a bit of assistance for the bowlers. The Knight Riders lost their skipper Sunil Narine’s wicket early but Jason Roy and Unmukt Chand stabilized the innings by building a partnership. Roy kept finding the boundaries as well as rotating the strike and held the fort for LAKR till the middle overs phase. Soon after he was joined by David Miller, who started off cautiously. Roy’s innings of 69 included 5 fours and 4 sixes adding a lot of impetus to the LAKR innings. The Knight Riders looked on course towards a big total however they lost a few quick wickets. The onus was on David Miller now to finish strongly and he did exactly that. Even though Miller bided his time initially, he absolutely exploded in the last couple of overs. He picked up 24 runs of the final over to take LAKR to a fighting total of 168. Miller’s innings which initially looked stuttering at 11 runs off 10 balls ended with an incredible flourish as he ended on unbeaten 44 off just 22 balls. The responsibility was now on the bowlers to defend the total.
LAKR set out onto the field with a strong intent to pick up quick wickets and continue the momentum from their batting innings. Spencer Johnson yet again provided the first breakthrough in the power play itself and LAKR believed to have the edge over SO and aimed to capitalize on the advantage. However, despite the early wicket SO batters Ryan Rickelton and Quinton de Kock forged a strong partnership. Rickelton went on to score a century and despite all the efforts of the bowlers, they weren’t able to stop the onslaught of both the batters. Despite not picking up wickets, LAKR bowlers kept their overs as economical as possible, and made the batters work hard for their runs. The Knight Riders fought right till the end however could clinch victory. LAKR will look to assess and improve from this game as they move to the Morrisville leg now. The squad will have time to regroup and reflect on their learnings to put their best foot forward in the upcoming games.
