Washington Freedom qualified for the final of the Major League Cricket 2024 season by winning the Qualifier against the San Francisco Unicorns in Dallas on Thursday. This puts us within touching distance of our maiden MLC title.
The captain-coach duo of Steve Smith and Ricky Ponting has developed a well-knit side that has been clinical and delivered some gritty performances. As we get ready to play our first final of MLC in just its second year, here is a glance at our consistent journey so far this season, highlighting the match results and key performers.
Game 1 vs MI New York, Morrisville
We started our MLC 2024 campaign with a win over defending champions MI New York by four runs under the DLS method in a rain-shortened match in Morrisville. We reached 55/1 after restricting MINY to 154/9 before rain intervened and halted further play.
Notable Performances
Saurabh Netravalkar and Justin Dill shone with the ball, picking up 3/24 and 3/33, respectively, as MINY were restricted to 154 due to the regular fall of wickets.
Meanwhile, our skipper Steve Smith, got off to a memorable start both as a batter and as captain. Smith’s counter-attacking display, where he scored 22 runs in a single over, got us over the line, as we were ahead of the par score when play was stopped.
Game 2 vs Texas Super Kings, Morrisville
Our second game in Morrisville was also affected by rain, as our match against the Texas Super Kings was called off.
After TSK reached a huge total of 203/5, we were on track as we raced to 62/0 in just four overs. Unfortunately, we needed to complete five overs for the DLS method to calculate the par score, so the match was abandoned.
Notable Performances
Netravalkar got two wickets, while both Travis Head and Steve Smith got to brisk starts in a game where we shared points with TSK.
Game 3 vs Seattle Orcas, Dallas
This was our first full game in MLC 2024. We were put in a tough position in the second innings, chasing 125 against the Seattle Orcas in Dallas.
Reduced to 64/5, the team showed grit and resilience to come back and win the match by five wickets. This was undoubtedly the most important two points we earned in the league phase.
Notable Performances
Lockie Ferguson’s four-fer and Netravalkar’s three-wicket haul was half the job done. But it was the unbeaten sixth partnership of 63 between Lahiru Milantha and Obus Pienaar during the chase that changed the course of the game.
Game 4 vs Los Angeles Knight Riders, Morrisville
With a hard-fought win in the last game, we rose from strength to strength in our next match. We beat Los Angeles Knight Riders by eight wickets, our highest margin of victory by wickets, in Morrisville in our fourth game to cement our position on top of the points table.
Notable Performances
Netravalkar was again the pick among bowlers with a spell of 4/35 as Ferguson and Glenn Maxwell picked up three and two wickets, respectively. LAKR were restricted to 129, while Travis Head got his first fifty to take us home with four overs to spare.
Game 5 vs MI New York, Dallas
This was our second win against MINY in the 2024 edition of the MLC. The 94-run win in Dallas was our highest in terms of runs this season and also made us the first team to qualify for the playoffs of MLC this year.
After scoring 182/5, our bowlers did an admirable job of restricting the opposition to just 88 runs as the game came to a close with 6.3 overs remaining.
Notable Performances
Travis Head warmed up for the crucial matches ahead by scoring his second fifty of the tournament, while homeboy Andries Gous also scored a half-century. Rachin Ravindra’s game-changing cameo was crucial for us as we posted a big score in the first innings.
However, Jasdeep Singh’s MLC debut was the highlight of the night. He seized the opportunity with open hands, recording figures of 3/14. Jasdeep, the player of the match, was well supported by Marco Jansen, Ferguson, and Maxwell, who each picked up two wickets.
Game 6 vs Texas Super Kings, Dallas
Batting first against Texas Super Kings in Dallas, we notched up our highest score in the history of MLC, 206/5. The result was a 42-run win over TSK, who scored 164 in the second innings.
This win was important too, as it helped us continue our winning momentum from the start of the season and also gave us an advantage of a top-two finish in the points table.
Notable Performances
Openers Head and Smith once again set the tone as Glenn Maxwell put his all-round skills on display with a 30-plus score with the bat and a three-wicket haul with the ball.
Jasdeep made an impact for the second straight match in a row picking three crucial wickets as Ravindra finished with an impressive haul of 4/16.
Game 7 vs San Francisco Unicorns, Dallas
We got our first defeat this season in our last league match against San Francisco Unicorns in Dallas. In a third match affected by rain, we fell short by six wickets under the DLS method.
It was an excellent batting display from SFU, headlined by Sanjay Krishnamurthi with an unbeaten 79, which made our first-innings tally look inadequate.
Notable Performances
The Australian trio of Smith, Head and Andrew Tye did well for us, albeit in a losing cause, with the openers scoring fifties and Tye picking up three wickets.
Qualifier vs San Francisco Unicorns, Dallas
We came back well in the Qualifier match of MLC 2024 in Dallas, registering a win against SFU by seven wickets to progress to the final of the event.
Notable Performances
It was a clinical show from our side, with both the batters and bowlers contributing in equal measure to our win. Ravindra recorded career-best figures with the ball, as Jansen and Netravalkar too contributed.
Head and Maxwell were at their imperious best as the duo smashed eight sixes and 14 boundaries among them.
