South African wicket-keeper batter Heinrich Klaasen scored the first century of the inaugural Major League Cricket (MLC) season as Seattle Orcas defeated MI New York by two wickets in a high-scoring match on Wednesday. Klaasen played a magnificent unbeaten knock of 110 runs off 44 balls to guide the Orcas to victory. After Orcas opted to bowl, MI New York struggled to put runs on the board, before skipper Kieron Pollard and Nicholas Pooran joined hands. Pooran (68) and Pollard (34)'s partnership gave MI Ney York some much-needed momentum.
During their partnership, Pollard smashed a 110-metre-long six, the biggest of the MLC, on the second ball of the 12th over, which was bowled by Cameron Gannon.
Pollard (34) lost his wicket in the following over as the scores for MI New York read 132 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. A steady partnership between Tim David and David Wiese saw New York go past 150 runs.
However, Tim David (18) failed to build on his solid start as he lost his wicket at the start of the eighteenth over. Rashid Khan (2) lost his wicket cheaply in the subsequent over soon after which Wiese (19) followed suit.
Nosthush Kenjige (3*) and Trent Boult (20*) scored 22 runs in the final over of their team's innings that saw MI New York end their 20 overs with a total of 194 runs for the loss of eight wickets.
In reply, Klaasen anchored the Orcas innings, while wickets were falling around him.
Nauman Anwar (51) scored a crucial half-century, providing a helping hand to Klaasen, who struck Rashid Khan for 24 in the 16th over to turn the tide.
Klaasen remained unbeaten with 110 runs off 44 balls as he single-handedly led the Orcas to victory.
(With Inputs From MLC Release)