He scored only 239 runs in 14 matches of the IPL 2025.
After a dismal season for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, star West Indies batter Shimron Hetmyer has regained his form in the ongoing Major League Cricket 2025 (MLC) 2025. The 28-year-old’s stunning 97-run knock off 40 balls helped his team Seattle Orcas to secure a three-wicket victory over the MI New York.
The Seattle Orcas were coming on the back of a five-match losing streak into the game. They also replaced Heinrich Klaasen and handed over the captaincy to Sikandar Raza ahead of this fixture.
However, Orcas won the toss and invited the MI New York to bat first in Dallas. A fierce 158-run partnership off 68 deliveries, between the MI New York skipper Nicholas Pooran and USA all-rounder Tajinder Singh Dhillon, was the highlight of the first innings. A smashing 108* off 60 balls from Pooran and a 35-ball-95 powered them to 237/4.
While chasing the target, the Orcas batters Kyle Mayers, skipper Raza and former captain Klaasen contributed with some crucial knocks of 37(20), 30(9) and 26 (13), respectively. But a match-winning 97 runs off 40 balls from Hetmyer stole the show. The match was set for a nail-biting finish as the Orcas needed six runs off the final delivery to win the match. The southpaw hit the winning runs off veteran all-rounder Kieron Pollard to register their first victory of the MLC 2025.
The Windies batter has had a forgettable season in the recently concluded IPL 2025. Hetmyer was retained by RR for a huge amount of INR 11 crore ahead of the tournament but his performance could not reflect the investment in him this season. He scored only 239 runs in 14 matches.
Notably, the batter was a part of three botched chases in the latest edition of the league. The southpaw was batting at nine runs off five balls against the Delhi Capitals (DC), when they required just nine more off the final over to win the match. But Hetmyer, alongside his partner Dhruv Jurel, could not pull off the chase as the game went to a super over. He also failed to hit some big shots in the super over and RR eventually lost the match against DC.
A similar incident followed in two consecutive fixtures. The batter failed to take his team over the line while batting at 10*(5) and 11*(7), needing nine runs off six balls and 45 runs off 24 deliveries, against the Lucknow Super Giants and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, respectively.
However, his chances of being retained by RR for the IPL 2026 seem low. If the Caribbean big-hitter could continue this fiery form in the upcoming matches, the Royals may re-buy him at a lower price in the IPL 2026 auction.
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