Shanaka blitz helps Orcas open account

A stunning blitz from Dasun Shanaka helped Seattle Orcas open their account in MLC 2026 as they picked up a five-wicket win over Washington Freedom. Shanaka came to the crease at a tricky time for the chasing side after their near-perfect innings was derailed by a flurry of wickets. But the Sri Lankan allrounder managed to smash an unbeaten 36 off a mere 12 deliveries to ease the nerves and seal a comfortable win in the end.

Orcas ended up inflicting a loss similar to the one they suffered just 24 hours earlier in the tournament opener as a 200+ total got chased down again. Mitchell Owen, who warmed the bench in IPL 2026, got off to a flier and hammered 10 boundaries in his brilliant 25-ball 61. Skipper Steve Smith stuttered at the other end though even as Freedom ended up scoring 82 in the Powerplay. Shanaka then made the crucial breakthough as he got rid of Owen before following it up with Smith's wicket as well.

Once those two departed, Mark Chapman took charge alongside Andries Gous. Chapman in particular was in murderous mood, flaying the bowlers to all parts of the ground enroute to a rapid fifty. At the end of 14 overs, they were very well placed at 175/2, with a total close to 250 looking like a real possibility. However, Ottneil Baartman shattered the stumps of Gous and Glenn Maxwell off back-to-back deliveries that sucked the momentum out of the innings completely. With Chapman also departing the very next over, the innings witnessed a stunning turnaround. Eventually, they lost their eight wickets in the last 6 overs to get bowled out for 216 - a total that looked powerful but clearly not enough given the start Orcas made.

Seifert, who smashed a century in a losing cause just 24 hours earlier, was at it again this time. He hammered three fours and a six in the very first over of the chase against Marco Jansen and picked on Lockie Ferguson as well. Shayan Jahangir, his opening partner who also caused mayhem in the last game, got off to a fine start as the openers knocked off 52 runs in just 3.1 overs. Jahangir then fell against the run of play but Matthew Breetzke and Seifert ran away with a game with another blistering partnership. After bringing up his fifty with a six, Seifert went 4, 6, 6, 6 to smash 28 in an over off Owen that put Orcas completely on top of the contest.

After 9 overs, they were coasting at 123/1. In his quest for back-to-back hundreds, Seifert fell by finding the fielder in the deep but Breetzke welcomed Maxwell to the attack with a 18-run over to go past fifty. Orcas then stuttered for a brief period, suffering a collapse similar to the one witnessed in the first innings as three batters made their way to the pavilion in the space of nine deliveries.

Any hopes Freedom had of pulling off a stunning comeback evaporated real quick when Shanaka hammered successive sixes off Ferguson. Jansen, who endured a torrid evening, couldn't do much against the marauding Sri Lankan as he too ended up conceding boundaries as Orcas got the job done with 14 balls to spare.

Brief scores: Washington Freedom 216 in 20 overs (Mitchell Owen 61, Mark Chapman 57; Ottneil Baartman 4-33, Dasun Shanaka 3-44) lost to Seattle Orcas 219/5 in 17.4 overs (Tim Seifert 78, Matthew Breetzke 66, Dasun Shanaka 36*) by 5 wickets