SHIMRON Hetmyer was all heart and hammer, as he dragged a bruised Seattle Orcas to their first win of the Major League Cricket (MLC) season with a sensational unbeaten 97 off 40 balls, which sealed a dramatic three-wicket victory over MI New York with a six off the final ball at Grand Prairie Stadium on Friday night.

It was a clash for the ages, one that had towering sixes, momentum swings, and a healthy dose of Caribbean brilliance. But at the centre of it all was Hetmyer, who hobbled between the wickets as he refused to give in.

With the Orcas chasing 238, the highest target of the tournament so far, the left-hander walked in with the scoreboard reading 107-4 in the eighth over and a mountain ahead. What followed was a calculated assault—five fours and nine sixes, the last of which soared over midwicket as Hetmyer celebrated.

Earlier, MI New York looked untouchable after a brutal exhibition of power hitting from captain Nicholas Pooran and Tajinder Singh. The pair added 158 runs in just over 11 overs, as Pooran smashed 108 not out off 60 and Tajinder blazing a stunning 95 off 35, both littered with boundaries—15 fours and 16 sixes between them.

Their onslaught lifted MI New York to 237-4, a total that seemed well beyond reach for a struggling Orcas unit that had lost five straight games. Gerald Coetzee (2-46) and Kyle Mayers (2-34) were the pick of the Orcas bowlers.

The chase began shakily for the Orcas, who lost both openers inside four overs. But Kyle Mayers, with 37 off 20, and captain Sikandar Raza, with a nine-ball 30, reignited belief with a 53-run blitz in under three overs.

Even so, at 138-5, the game appeared to tilt back in MI’s favour. That is when Hetmyer decided to write his own script. He absorbed the early pressure, then turned the final five overs into a six-hitting festival, as he launched Delano Potgieter, Kieron Pollard, and Ehsan Adil with disdain.

Even as wickets fell around him, the Guyanese big-hitter held his nerve, as eight was required off the last two balls in a dramatic over bowled by Pollard. Hetmyer hit the penultimate ball down the ground and limped between the wickets for two, as the equation became six from the final ball, which he launched over the rope as his teammates stormed the pitch.

Trent Boult (3-31) and Potgieter (2-46) led MI New York’s bowling.

Both teams now sit on two points from six games, with net run rate becoming critical in the fight for playoff survival. (Sportsmax)