Washington Freedom won their maiden Major League Cricket Tournament beating San Francisco Unicorns in the Final of MLC 2024 at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Sunday.

It was a wonderful season as we finished on top of the MLC 2024 points table after the league phase and won both our Qualifier and Championship matches. We saw some all-round performances throughout the season as three of our bowlers and two batters finished in the top-five overall bowling and batting charts.

Here is a look at some of our records in the MLC this season.

Highest Total

Our highest total in MLC 2024 came in the Chanpionship against the Unicorns when we scored 207/5 batting first. Incidentally, this is also the highest total in the entire competition this year. Having a huge first innings total helped us cross the line in the title match by 96 runs. 

Our 206/5, which we scored in a 42-run win over Texas Super Kings in a league game, is at second place in the overall list.

Highest Individual Score

Skipper Steve Smith’s 52-ball 88 in the Championship against the Unicorns, which powered us to the highest total this season, is the highest individual score for us in MLC 2024. Smith hit six sixes and seven boundaries during his innings to guide us to our first title in MLC. 

This is also the highest individual score for us in the history of MLC as Smith went past Matthew Short’s score of 80 scored against TSK last season.

Top Run-scorer

Steve Smith and Travis Head, with 336 runs from nine matches, were the joint highest run-scorers for us in the MLC 2024 finishing second in the overall batting charts. Smith’s runs came at an impressive average of 56.00 and a strike rate of 148.67 whereas Head averaged 48.00 striking at an astonishing rate of 173.19. 

The pair provided brisk starts at the top of the order and scored 52% of our total runs in MLC this season.

Lowest Total against Freedom

MI New York’s 88 in response to our 182/5 is the lowest total by a team against us this season. Jasdeep Singh shone with the ball on his MLC debut picking up 3/14 to restrict MINY as we won the game by 94 runs. 

Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson and Glenn Maxwell also picked up two wickets apiece in an all-round bowling performance. This was also MINY’s lowest total in the MLC.

Highest Wicket-taker

Saurabh Netravalkar finished on top of the overall bowling charts in MLC 2024 with 15 wickets from just seven matches at an average of 13.46 and a strike rate of 10.53. The left-arm pacer’s best bowling effort of 4/35, this season, came against Los Angeles Knight Riders during our eight-wicket win. 

Netravalkar was also our top wicket-taker last season with 10 wickets from six matches.

Rachin Ravindra is second on the overall list with 12 wickets from six innings at an unbelievable average of 6.08 and a strike rate of 7.58.

Best Bowling in an innings

Ravindra’s magical spell of 4/11 in the Qualifier match against the Unicorns is the best bowling figures recorded for us this year. The left-arm spinner’s career-best figures in T20s helped us qualify for the Championship with a seven-wicket win. 

Incidentally, Ravindra picked up another four-wicket haul this season, a spell of 4/16, in our league win against TSK by 42 runs.

Highest Partnership

Smith and Head’s 101-run association for the first wicket off just 60 balls in the final league match against the Unicorns is our highest partnership in MLC 2024. The duo hit nine fours and five sixes during their time together at the crease to provide us our first century partnership in MLC. 

But unfortunately, we ended up on the losing side of the content as the Unicorns won by six wickets.

Largest victory margin

The 96-run win over the Unicorns in the Championship of the MLC 2024 is our biggest victory margin by runs this year. 

Batting first, we posted 207/5 on the board with captain Steve Smith top-scoring with a 52-ball 88. In response, the Unicorns could manage only 111 as Ravindra and Jansen picked up three wickets each.

The eight-wicket win over LAKR during the league phase is our biggest victory in terms of wickets this season. Netravalkar and Maxwell got four and three wickets respectively as Travis Head shone with the bat with a 32-ball 54.

Highest Batting average and strike rate

Steve Smith, averaging 56.00, has the best average, second overall, for us in MLC this season. Out of the nine innings he has batted, Smith has scored 336 runs, including three fifties, and has remained unbeaten on three occasions. He reserved his best for the last as he top-scored in the Final with 88 off 52 balls to help us beat the Unicorns.

Meanwhile, Travis Head has the best strike rate among our batters who have scored a minimum of 100 runs this season. Head amassed 336 runs this season at an excellent strike rate of 173.19. He is also fifth on the overall list of batters with the highest strike rate.

Though Mukhtar Ahmed has a strike rate of 175.00, he faced only 24 balls for his tally of 42 runs in MLC 2024.

Most Fifties

Travis had a purple patch for us this season scoring five fifties, in five consecutive matches. Head leads the overall chart for most fifties in MLC 2024 with five from nine matches. Smith is second on our list with three fifties from the same number of matches.

Most sixes and sixes in an innings

With 21 sixes from nine matches, Steve Smith is our highest six-hitter, and second overall, this season. Smith and Head, with six sixes each, together share the spoils for the most sixes hit in an innings.

Meanwhile, Head leads the boundary count with a total of 40 fours from nine matches. The southpaw also holds the record for most fours scored in an innings for us with 10 fours in his unbeaten knock of 77 off just 44 balls against the Unicorns in the Qualifier match.

Best Bowling average, economy and strike rate

Rachin Ravindra has the best bowling average in MLC 2024 with an average of 6.08 runs for every wicket picked up. The left-arm spinner ended with a total of 12 wickets from seven matches in this campaign conceding only 73 runs.

Ravindra also heads the charts for the best economy rates among bowlers in MLC this year. He has sent down a total of 15.1 overs in the tournament at a miserly economy rate of 4.81 runs an over.

Among bowlers who have sent down a minimum of 10 overs in MLC this year, Ravindra heads the list of best strike rates too with an impressive frequency of 7.58 balls per wicket. His total tally of 12 wickets came in just 91 balls.

Andrew Tye and Jasdeep Singh with 6.00 and 7.00, respectively, have better strike rates but have bowled only five and seven overs each.

Most Catches

Mukhtar Ahmed tops our list of most catches by an outfield player with seven catches from nine matches. He is also third on the overall list in MLC 2024.

Meanwhile, Mukhtar and Ferguson share the honours for most catches in a single match with three each against TSK and MINY, respectively.