Owen, Maxwell star as Washington Freedom pip Los Angeles Knight Riders in high-scoring thriller
Washington Freedom registered their fifth win on the trot in the Cognizant Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025 season with a five-wicket victory over Los Angeles Knight Riders at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Thursday.
Opting to field first, the Freedom bowlers restricted LAKR to 213/4 in their 20 overs. Pacer Ian Holland was our standout bowler, with figures of 2/25 in his three overs.
Later, the reigning MLC champions rode on valuable contributions from Mitchell Owen (43), captain Glenn Maxwell (42), Glenn Phillips (33*), Andries Gous (31), and Obus Pienaar (23*) to chase down the target on the final delivery and register an impressive win in Dallas.
With 10 points from six games, we are currently placed second in the standings and inching closer to an MLC 2025 playoffs qualification.
Earlier, the Freedom bowlers got off to a challenging start as wicketkeeper-batter Unmukt Chand and Andre Fletcher added 130 runs for the opening wicket.
In the 13th over, Holland provided us with the much-needed breakthrough as he dismissed Chand.
Holland continued his outstanding spell, soon removing Sherfane Rutherford in the 15th over.
Meanwhile, Fletcher notched up his fourth T20 century and was later retired out after scoring 104 off 60 balls.
While Jack Edwards got the better of Rovman Powell in the penultimate over, LAKR posted 213/4 in their allotted overs.
Chasing 214, Mitchell Owen and Rachin Ravindra once again got us off to a blazing start.
After amassing five runs in the opening over, Owen hammered Ali Khan for a four and two sixes to accumulate 20 runs in the following over.
Owen continued the onslaught, clobbering Jason Holder for two maximums - his fourth in a row - while the opening duo slammed a four each to rack up 22 runs in the third over.
Owen brought up the team’s fifty in just 3.1 overs before he departed for a quick-fire 43.
Wicketkeeper-batter Andries Gous and Ravindra kept the momentum going with some exquisite shots, adding 32 runs for the second wicket. However, we suffered a huge blow as Ravindra fell for 18 in the eighth over.
Captain Maxwell took little time to settle, smashing Andre Russell for a six and following it up with a four off Tanveer Sangha.
Maxwell and Gous forged a crucial 38-run stand to steady our ship. Gous was later dismissed for 31 in the 12th over.
At the other end, Maxwell smacked Russell for 19 runs, including two sixes and a four, to put the pressure back on the LAKR bowlers.
Later, in the 14th over, we lost some momentum as Edwards and Maxwell fell to Sangha. Skipper Maxwell’s blitzkrieg knock was laced with two fours and three maximums.
With 60 runs needed off 36 balls, Glenn Phillips (33 not out) and Obus Pienaar (23 not out) stitched together a match-winning partnership for the sixth wicket to guide us to an excellent victory.
Owen was adjudged the Player of the Match for his scintillating start in the chase.
After registering five wins on the bounce, we will aim to continue the winning streak against the San Francisco Unicorns to secure a playoff spot on Saturday.
“We always had the belief, especially on this wicket, with the wind going that side. We knew it would be tough, but glad to get over the line,” our flamboyant opening batter said after claiming the award.
Los Angeles Knight Riders vs Washington Freedom, MLC 2025, brief scores: LAKR 213/4 in 20 overs (Andre Fletcher 104, Unmukt Chand 41; Ian Holland 2/25) lost to WF 214/5 in 20 overs (Mitchell Owen 43, Glenn Maxwell 42; Tanveer Sangha 2/35) by 5 wickets.
