Rovman Powell’s six-hitting spree headlines LAKR’s dominant win

Rovman Powell's Six-Hitting Spree Headlines LAKR's Dominant Win

Powered by their West Indian stars, Los Angeles Knight Riders made it two wins in two, cruising to a comfortable victory over Seattle Orcas in their MLC fixture on Sunday.

Put in to bat first, LAKR openers Andre Fletcher and Colin Munro punished slot balls in the Powerplay to set the tone early, reaching 58/0 in six overs. The Orcas found a breakthrough with a pace-off delivery from Ottneil Baartman, currently leading the wicket charts.

Unmukt Chand briefly collaborated with Fletcher, but his departure brought Sunil Narine in at No.4. Narine was undone by a Baartman yorker. Fletcher kept going but could have been sent back earlier if not for a fluffed run-out chance. From 85/1, the Knight Riders slipped to 110/4 in the 13th over.

Jason Holder brought out his long levers briefly, but it was Rovman Powell who launched a ferocious counterattack. Powell tore into Dasun Shanaka with five sixes in a row. After the fourth strike, Shanaka could only smile and shake his head in disbelief. Powell then top-edged the last ball to short third man.

The lower order slipped from 192/6 to 196 all out.

Still, it was more than enough for LAKR.

The Orcas couldn't mimic the quick start. Sunil Narine provided the first breakthrough as Tim Seifert fell to a sharp catch by Holder. Narine came back to sneak one through to Matthew Breetzke's stumps. At 43/4, the climb looked too steep.

Shimron Hetmyer and Dasun Shanaka arrested the slide momentarily, but Shadley van Schalkwyk's double strike via slower ones took them out as well, leaving Orcas at 62/6. No one from the top seven crossed 15. Harmeet Singh top-scored with 25 from eight balls. They managed four sixes, one less than what Powell hit across five balls.

Andre Russell did the clean-up with two off-cutters and one faster one. After back-to-back 200+ scores, the Orcas folded for 115.

Brief Scores: Los Angeles Knight Riders 196/10 in 20 overs (Andre Fletcher 40, Rovman Powell 37; Jasdeep Singh 3-29, Ottneil Baartman 3-36) beat Seattle Orcas 115/10 in 15.3 overs (Harmeet Singh 25, Dasun Shanaka 14; Andre Russell 3-8, Shadley van Schalkwyk 3-17) by 81 runs.