Washington Freedom will aim to be the first team to enter the final of the Major League Cricket 2024 season when we meet the San Francisco Unicorns in the Qualifier at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Monday.

Our Qualifier match against SFU on July 25 is scheduled to start at 7:30 PM CT (July 26, 6:00 AM IST). The MLC 2024 game will be available to watch via live streaming and broadcast.

The top two teams in the MLC 2024 points table will meet in the Qualifier and the winning team will directly proceed to the final. The losing side will have one more shot at redemption when they meet the winners of the Eliminator contest, a match between the third and fourth-placed teams.

We lost to SFU by six wickets (DLS method) in our last league game in Dallas on Monday, the first defeat of our MLC campaign this year. 

However, we finished on top of the MLC 2024 points table with 11 points from seven games, ahead of SFU on net run rate.

Travis Head and skipper Steve Smith shone at the top of the order with half-centuries while Andrew Tye picked up three wickets, albeit in a losing cause, in a rain-shortened encounter.

Saurabh Netravalkar is on top of the bowling charts in MLC 2024 with 12 wickets from just five matches at an average of 12.16 runs and an astonishing strike rate of 9.16.

Meanwhile, Head and Smith have moved to second and third in the overall batters’ list. Head has 250 runs from seven matches at an average of 41.66 and an excellent strike rate of 173.61 whereas Smith has accumulated 247 runs at an unbelievable average of 61.75 and a strike rate of 144.44.

WF vs SFU form in MLC

We have won four of our last five league games in the MLC 2024 season with the six-wicket loss to San Francisco Unicorns on Monday being the only defeat this year. We have met SFU twice in the history of MLC with both teams winning a match apiece. 

Washington Freedom's last five matches

Opponent

Venue

Result

Match Date 

Margin

SFU

Dallas

Lost

July 22, 2024

6 wickets (DLS)

TSK

Dallas

Won

July 19, 2024

42 runs

MINY

Dallas

Won

July 16, 2024

94 runs

LAKR

Morrisville

Won

July 14, 2024

8 wickets

SO

Dallas

Won

July 11, 2024

5 wickets

 

WF vs SFU, Qualifier MLC 2024: Players to watch out

Head, Smith and Tye were the positives that shone brightly in our loss to the San Francisco Unicorns in the last match. For a change, Smith outscored his left-handed opening partner during the powerplay. 

Our skipper smashed three sixes and five fours as he raced to 44 off just 22 balls to power us to 70/0 after the first six overs. Meanwhile, Head shifted gears, once Smith departed, to complete his fourth straight fifty in MLC. 

Both Smith and Head were involved in a record partnership adding 101 runs, our highest for any wicket in the MLC, for the opening wicket against SFU. The duo have scored a total of 497 runs out of our total 936 runs this season, a whopping 53%, at a fast clip as well. Another flying start on Thursday and we will have one leg in the final.

Tye, playing his first game of the season, picked up three wickets against SFU in our last match. Though Tye was a bit expensive, he dismissed big-hitters Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Inglis and Sherfane Rutherford, the last two in the same over, to keep us in the game right through the defense.

Meanwhile, Netravalkar will be our trump card once again with his best spell in the MLC coming against the same opponent last year. His astonishing figures of 6/9 against SFU in 2023 helped us win a low-scoring game by a comfortable 30-run margin.

Washington Freedom squad: Steven Smith (c), Akhilesh Reddy, Jack Edwards, Andries Gous, Travis Head, Lahiru Milantha, Mukhtar Ahmed, Justin Dill, Ian Holland, Marco Jansen, Glenn Maxwell, Obus Pienaar, Rachin Ravindra, Amila Aponso, Lockie Ferguson, Akeal Hosein, Saurabh Netravalkar, Andrew Tye, Yasir Mohammad

Where to watch WF vs SFU Qualifier MLC 2024 LIVE

LIVE telecast and streaming of the Washington Freedom vs San Francisco Unicorns match will be available on Monumental Sports Network and Willow by Cricbuzz in the USA. The match will start at 7:30 PM CT on July 25.

The WF vs SFU match will be streamed LIVE on the Jio Cinema App and website in India starting at 06:00 AM IST on July 26.