LA Knight Riders lose to Ryan Rickelton’s century

LAKR’s total of 168 was easily defeated by Ryan Rickelton and fellow countryman Quinton de Kock (51*), who shared a 152-run stand. At Dallas’ Grand Prairie Stadium, the Seattle Orcas defeated the Los Angeles Knight Riders by a commanding nine wickets to earn their first victory of the MLC 2024. An outstanding decision to put in Ryan Rickelton, who scored his first T20 century with a 66-ball 103*, was the driving force behind Seattle’s victorious surge.

The Orcas lost their first wicket, Nauman Anwar, early in the third over of their chase, but Ryan Rickelton and de Kock grabbed control of the chase with calculating accuracy. In the Orcas’ 51-run Power Play, Rickelton, who took Aaron Jones’ spot in the top order, shot out to 35 off 23. Even though de Kock at the other end started slowly, Orcas stayed up with the asking rate, and by the 10-over point, he was past 50.

De Kock was able to extend his innings thanks to Ryan Rickelton attack.

As LAKR tried to maintain a chokehold through the middle session, Ryan Rickelton hit three boundaries off an Andre Russell over and then two sixes off Shakib Al Hasan. In the 14th over, after making just 23 from his opening 25 balls, de Kock reverse-scooped Ali Khan for a six and a four to reach the partnership’s 100. In Corne Dry’s 16th over, Rickelton, on the other hand, sprinted into the ninety with a six and two boundaries.

The dugout, who had stood up to applaud de Kock a ball later for his fifty, erupted in cheers as he reached his century off his sixty-third ball. With the game’s winning runs coming off the penultimate ball, Orcas was unable to significantly increase their net run rate.

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The Knight Riders had earlier in the evening scored 168, which was competitive but ultimately below par. Jason Roy had top scored with 52 balls. Though the Englishman battled early to adjust to the pitch’s pace, he played as many as 17 dot balls heading into the 16th over of the game. His knock was peppered with five fours and four sixes.

Seattle’s decision to bowl first was justified as Unmukt Chand also batted out 21 balls for his 18 runs, limiting the score. While Cameron Gannon and Imad Wasim proved to be unhittable, Zaman Khan and Harmeet Singh each claimed wickets. David Miller’s blitz (44* off 22) was necessary to give LAKR a late boost, but ultimately it was insufficient.