Pakistan international Imad Wasim backed his economical figures of 1/19 with an unbeaten 43 and propelled Seattle Orcas to taste their maiden victory in the Major League Cricket (MLC).

Seattle Orcas started their MLC campaign with a close five-wicket victory over Washington Freedom with two balls to spare, courtesy of a dominant all-round show by Imad Wasim.

Set to chase 146, the Orcas notched up 148/5 with just two balls to spare.

The Orcas got off to an unwanted start to the pursuit as the side lost wickets at regular intervals and were 43/3 in the eighth over when Imad Wasim walked out.

The left-handed batter soon stitched a much-needed partnership for Orcas with opener Nauman Anwar, who stood his ground firm despite losing three partners at the other end.

The pair added 53 runs to the total before Anwar fell just two runs short of his maiden MLC half-century as Dane Piedt castled him in the 14th over.

Anwar remained the top-scorer for the Orcas with a gutsy 48 from 37 deliveries, hitting three boundaries and three sixes.

Imad Wasim then changed gears at the backend and was brilliantly supported by Shimron Hetmyer, who played an important 23-run knock before falling in the final over.

Orcas found themselves in a state of bother with Hetmyer’s dismissal on the second delivery of the final over when they still needed five runs to claim the maiden victory.

Marco Jansen, however, struck two back-to-back boundaries and sealed a narrow victory for the Orcas.

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Imad Wasim remained unbeaten with 43 off 38 deliveries, laced up with three boundaries and a six.

Put into bat first, Washington Freedom’s batting lineup struggled against Orcas’ bowling attack and could only accumulate 144/7 in their quota of 20 overs.

Lower-order batter Akeal Hosein remained the top-scorer for the Freedom with a quickfire 22-ball 33 while opener Andries Gous (28) was the other notable run-getter.

Wayne Parnell and Harmeet Singh led the bowling attack for the Orcas with two wickets each, while Imad Wasim, Andrew Tye and Cameron Gannon made one scalp each.

In the second match of the ongoing MLC, San Francisco Unicorns handed a 22-run thumping to MI New York after Corey Anderson’s blitz.

The all-rounder smashed 91 off 52 deliveries with the help of four boundaries and seven sixes.

Shadab Khan, on the other hand, was even more ruthless with the bat as he played a blistering 61-run knock in 30 balls and smashed four boundaries and five sixes.

Set to chase a daunting 216-run total, MI New York could score 193/5 in 20 overs despite Tim David’s quickfire half-century.

Shadab Khan followed up his brisk half-century with a crucial wicket of Dewald Brevis.

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