Heinrich Klaasen has stepped down as Seattle Orcas Captain after head coach Matthew Mott was removed by the franchise from his role in the middle of the tournament.
Seattle Orcas suffered a five straight losses in the ongoing MLC 2025 before making a win against MI New York under the captaincy of Sikandar Raza.
The franchise called the removal of Matthew Mott and resignation of Heinrich Klaasen ‘strategic mid-season leadership changes.’ The Major League Cricket has confirmed that South Africa’s explosive batter decided to step away from captaincy ‘to focus fully on his responsibilities as a batter.’
In an official statment, the Orcas’ CEO Hemant Dua said, “This is a moment of reflection and renewal for the Seattle Orcas. This has been a tough run for the team, and with it, some difficult decisions had to be made.”
“We are grateful to Matthew for his commitment and professionalism during his time with us, and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors,” said Hemant Dua.
Wishing Sikandar Raza the best as he takes over reins of #SeattleOrcas for the remainder of #MLC2025 🙌#AmericasFavoriteCricketTeam I @SRazaB24 pic.twitter.com/FmvwHN1XhS
— Seattle Orcas (@MLCSeattleOrcas) June 27, 2025
“We respect Heinrich’s decision to step down voluntarily as captain to focus on his batting. This reflects his character and team-first mindset. Sikandar was our unanimous choice once we heard from Heinrich Klassen about his decision. We believe these changes set the stage for a strong second half of the season” he added.
Seattle Orcas has pulled off a formidable run chase against MI New York. Chasing a massive 238 runs, the Orcas clinched a thrilling last-ball win thanks to Shimron Hetmyer’s 97* off 40 deliveries.
With six runs needed off the final ball, Hetmyer smashed Kieron Pollard for a six over fine leg, sealing their first victory of the season.
Earlier MI New York had posted 237/4 with Nicholas Pooran scoring 108* runs and Tajinder Dhilon hammering 95 runs off 35 deliveries. Seattle Orcas still has four more matches left in the group stage and will need to pull of victory in all games to keep their hopes alive.
San Francisco Unicorns are in the top position of the MLC 2025 points table while Washington Freedom and Texas Super Kings secured 2nd and 3rd position of the table.
