Washington Freedom Reign Supreme in MLC Final

The Washington Freedom won the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024 title with a huge 96-run victory against the San Francisco Unicorns. A beauitful batting display from Australian duo Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell led the team for Freedom’s dominant performance.

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Having topped the group stage and defeated the Unicorns in the qualifier, Freedom entered the final passionately and with confidence. Smith and Maxwell’s 83-run partnership propelled them to a formidable total of 217 proving too much for the Unicorns to chase.

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Steve Smith who had been surprisingly omitted from Australia’s T20 World Cup squad, silenced his critics with a blasting knock of 88 runs. After a cautious start, he unleashed his big-hitting prowess, smashing six maximums. His exceptional form in the MLC has reignited the debate about his place in Australia’s T20 setup.

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The Unicorns chase was derailed early by Marco Jansen incisive bowling removing both openers. Despite a valiant effort from Sherfane Rutherford, they were unable to keep pace with the required run rate, eventually falling short by a significant margin.

Ricky Ponting who guided the Washington Freedom to the title shortly after stepping down as coach of the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League celebrated a successful coaching.

With this MLC championship win the Washington Freedom have solidified their position as the MLC’s premier team while Smith has cemented his status as one of the tournament’s most destructive batters.

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Washington Freedom Reign Supreme in the MLC Final is mentioned in this article.

Match Highlight Washington Freedom vs San Francisco Unicorns

Washington Freedom (20 overs maximum)
BATTING

Player	R	B	4s	6s	SR
Travis Head	9	6	2	0	150.00
Steven Smith (c)	88	52	7	6	169.23
Andries Gous	21	14	3	1	150.00
Rachin Ravindra	11	9	1	0	122.22
Glenn Maxwell	40	22	1	4	181.81
Mukhtar Ahmed	19	9	2	1	211.11
Obus Pienaar	13	9	1	0	144.44
Extras (b 1, lb 1, nb 1, w 3)	6
TOTAL	207/5				(20 overs, RR: 10.35)

Did not bat: Marco Jansen, Andrew Tye, Ian Holland, Saurabh Netravalkar
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Travis Head, 1.2 ov), 2-49 (Andries Gous, 5.5 ov), 3-86 (Rachin Ravindra, 10.1 ov), 4-169 (Steven Smith, 16.3 ov), 5-177 (Glenn Maxwell, 17.2 ov)
DRS

BOWLING

Player	O	M	R	W	ECON	0s	4s	6s	WD	NB
Carmi le Roux	4	0	40	0	10.00	9	5	2	0	0
Pat Cummins	4	0	35	2	8.75	11	3	2	0	0
Hassan Khan	4	0	42	1	10.50	8	5	2	0	0
Haris Rauf	4	0	41	1	10.25	5	2	3	0	0
Juanoy Drysdale	4	0	47	1	11.75	6	2	3	3	1
DRS

San Francisco Unicorns (Target: 208 runs from 20 overs)
BATTING

Player	R	B	4s	6s	SR
Finn Allen	13	13	2	0	100.00
Jake Fraser-McGurk	3	6	0	0	50.00
Sanjay Krishnamurthi	13	9	3	0	144.44
Josh Inglis †	18	11	2	1	163.63
Sherfane Rutherford	4	9	0	0	44.44
Hassan Khan	13	6	1	1	216.66
Corey Anderson (c)	0	2	0	0	0.00
Pat Cummins	13	7	0	2	185.71
Haris Rauf	7	8	1	0	87.50
Carmi le Roux	20	19	1	1	105.26
Juanoy Drysdale	5	6	1	0	83.33
Extras (lb 1, w 1)	2
TOTAL	111				(16 overs, RR: 6.93)

Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Jake Fraser-McGurk, 2.1 ov), 2-30 (Sanjay Krishnamurthi, 3.5 ov), 3-30 (Finn Allen, 4.5 ov), 4-51 (Sherfane Rutherford, 7.4 ov), 5-53 (Josh Inglis, 8.1 ov), 6-53 (Corey Anderson, 8.3 ov), 7-68 (Pat Cummins, 9.5 ov), 8-78 (Hassan Khan, 10.4 ov), 9-92 (Haris Rauf, 13.5 ov), 10-111 (Juanoy Drysdale, 15.6 ov)
DRS

BOWLING

Player	O	M	R	W	ECON	0s	4s	6s	WD	NB
Marco Jansen	4	1	28	3	7.00	14	4	1	0	0
Saurabh Netravalkar	4	0	33	1	8.25	10	4	1	1	0
Glenn Maxwell	2	0	14	1	7.00	4	2	0	0	0
Andrew Tye	2	0	12	2	6.00	6	0	1	0	0
Rachin Ravindra	4	0	23	3	5.75	14	1	2	0	0