We went down fighting against the Los Angeles Knight Riders, losing by 4 wickets in Morrisville.

The Seattle Orcas put in a fighting effort against the Los Angeles Knight Riders but came up short in a 4-wicket loss in Morrisville, N.C. on Wednesday.

Winning the toss, skipper Heinrich Klaasen had no hesitation in batting first on a pitch that showed a tendency of slowing down as the games have progressed this season. Looking for an uptick in form, we made four changes with Lungi Ngidi, Michael Bracewell, Keemo Paul and Ali Sheikh all coming in. Ngidi, Paul and Sheikh were all making their debuts for the Franchise.

Ryan Rickelton displayed his full range of strokes by going on the attack and was especially severe against Spencer Johnson, hitting him for two big sixes in an over. Rickleton’s opening partner, Shehan Jayasuriya, was lost in the fourth over as he succumbed trying to play an audacious scoop shot.

Quinton de Kock went back for a duck, run out in the same over but Rickelton would continue in the same vein and stitched together a 64-run partnership with skipper Klaasen. The pair played some wonderful shots to stabilize the innings, while keeping the scoreboard ticking.

Klaasen was unlucky to lose his wicket when a shot down the ground from Rickelton would be intercepted by Sunil Narine, who got a touch, leading the skipper to be run out at the non-striker's end.

Despite not much support from the other end, Rickelton played a classy knock of 89 off only 52 deliveries, hitting 6 sixes and 7 fours. His efforts pushed the Seattle Orcas to a score of 142/6 in 20 overs and it was now up to the bowlers to defend the target.

The bowlers began with great discipline, building pressure, and Nigidi reaped the rewards in the third over. In an effort to up the ante, Narine went for a massive swipe against the South African pacer and saw his stumps knocked off.

Unmukt Chand and Jason Roy delivered a 58-run stand to steady things for the Los Angeles Knight Riders, before Harmeet finally dismissed Roy for 27 after a mistimed shot.

The team clawed its way back into the contest, keeping things tight and taking wickets at regular intervals, with Gannon and Paul also getting their name in the wickets column.

The big wicket came when Unmukt Chand was finally dismissed for a well-made 62 off 47 by Harmeet, with the contest still in the balance.

The Knights kept their nerves to seal a four-wicket win and the Seattle Orcas now move to Dallas to face the San Francisco Unicorns on July 20.