Seattle Orcas in desperate search for inflexion point

Seattle Orcas find themselves in a queasy territory. In the aftermath of their fourth straight defeat on Sunday, Heinrich Klaasen acknowledged the urgency of getting "on a roll" if the team's playoff hopes are to stay alive. Four defeats in four has had a deflating effect on the team that finished bottom of the table in 2024 too. They're still not out of the running for the playoffs and have a chance to script a dramatic climb up the table, but like Klaasen opined, any such inflexion point has to come right away.

Speaking of the dramatic, the Orcas will need to find it in them to kickstart their recovery against the best team of the season - San Francisco Unicorns, who have braved the loss of their regular captain to injury and waded past a bug in the camp to maintain a 100% win record. Finn Allen has batted on a different level, with 294 runs and counting in four innings, including 33 sixes. The next best six tally is 20 - jointly-held by his teammate Jake Fraser-McGurk and Glenn Maxwell. Unicorns' Haris Rauf tops the wickets charts with 12, while Xavier Bartlett is fifth with nine. In a humbling contrast, Orcas' best run-getter has only 129 runs this season (Kyle Mayers) and the most wickets a bowler has picked for them is four (Harmeet Singh).

It's been that kind of season for the Orcas - hamstrung by their batting in the first couple of fixtures and then let down by the bowlers in the next two. They could pick themselves up with the belief that it'll take only one performance in full cohesion that can serve as a springboard in a tightly-contested tournament like this. Beyond their first two points, a win over the team that's barely shown any weakness will do a world of good for their own confidence and help shrug off any baggage they might carry from this lethargic start so far.

When: Seattle Orcas vs San Francisco Unicorns, Match 16, June 25, 07:00 PM LOCAL

Where: Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas

What to expect: A high-scoring game and a good toss to lose? The venue started out favouring teams batting second as the first four matches there were won by the chasing side. However, in the last two days, the narrative has been flipped a touch - with San Francisco Unicorns defending 246/4 and Texas Super Kings defending 196/8.

Team News:

Seattle Orcas

Despite how the season has transpired, Heinrich Klaasen made just one change in the previous fixture, by bringing in Gerald Coetzee for Obed McCoy. It didn't quite bring the bowling discipline the Orcas yearned for as the South African went for 36 in 3 overs. Yet, Klaasen might want to give his national compatriot another game before reverting to McCoy.

Probable XI:David Warner, Kyle Mayers, Shayan Jahangir(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Aaron Jones, Heinrich Klaasen(c), Sikandar Raza, Harmeet Singh, Jasdeep Singh, Cameron Gannon, Gerald Coetzee

San Francisco Unicorns: Two days ago, Matthew Short said that there was a 'bug in the camp' that ruled out the likes of Finn Allen and Carmi le Roux. Remains to be seen if they're fit and ready to go.

Probable XI:Matthew Short(c), Finn Allen/Romario Shepherd, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Tim Seifert(w), Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Hassan Khan, Karima Gore, Xavier Bartlett, Haris Rauf, Carmi le Roux/Liam Plunkett, Brody Couch