Zia-ul-Haq’s fiery spell powers Super Kings past Orcas in MLC 2025

OAKLAND: Texas Super Kings secured their third consecutive win in the ongoing Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025 season, thrashing Seattle Orcas by 93 runs at the Oakland Coliseum on Monday.

After being put into bat, Super Kings managed to post 153-6 in their allotted 20 overs, with Saiteja Mukkamalla top-scoring with a steady 30 off 23 balls.

The side faced early trouble during the powerplay, losing the key wickets of Devon Conway (13) and skipper Faf du Plessis (7 off 12), leaving them reeling at 26-2 in 5.1 overs.

Daryl Mitchell (25 off 26) and Marcus Stoinis (28 off 12) tried to steady the innings but couldn't convert their starts, falling to Harmeet Singh and Waqar Salamkheil respectively. 

Towards the end, Milind Kumar (18*) and Shubham Ranjane (15*) chipped in with vital runs to help the team reach a competitive total.

In reply, the Orcas collapsed under pressure, getting bundled out for a mere 60 runs in 13.5 overs. Aaron Jones and Jasdeep Singh were the only batters to reach double figures, scoring 17 and 12 runs respectively.

Former Pakistan U19 pacer Zia-ul-Haq starred with the ball, delivering a fiery three-over spell that saw him return figures of 3/16. He struck early by dismissing the dangerous David Warner for nine runs in his first over. 

Zia followed it up with the key scalps of skipper Heinrich Klaasen for a golden duck and all-rounder Sikandar Raza for just four.

Nandre Burger and Noor Ahmad also delivered impressive spells, picking up three wickets each in their full quota of four overs to complete the demolition.

With this dominant win, Texas Super Kings moved to second place on the points table with three wins in three matches, holding six points and a healthy net run rate of 2.550. 

They will face San Francisco Unicorns in their next match on June 20 in Dallas.