Captain Maxwell’s carnage powers Washington Freedom to 113-run victory over Los Angeles Knight Riders

Captain Glenn Maxwell led from the front with a scintillating century, followed by an outstanding bowling performance that helped Washington Freedom defeat the Los Angeles Knight Riders by 113 runs in the ongoing Cognizant Major League Cricket MLC 2025 season at the Oakland Coliseum in California on Tuesday.

Opting to bat first, skipper Maxwell produced a vintage knock, an unbeaten 106 off just 49 balls. He was ably supported by opening batter Mitchell Owen, who smashed a quickfire 32 off just 11 deliveries, powering the reigning MLC champions to 208/5 in their 20 overs.

Later, the Freedom bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals to bundle out the Knight Riders for just 95 in 16.3 overs.

With the dominant victory, we now have four points from three games and are placed third in the MLC 2025 standings.

Earlier, we made three changes to our playing XI as Mark Chapman, Mark Adair, and Yasir Mohammad were handed their franchise debuts. The trio came in for Glenn Phillips, Mukhtar Ahmed, and Abhishek Paradkar.

Rachin Ravindra got us off to a strong start, slamming Corne Dry for back-to-back boundaries before the southpaw was dismissed in the opening over.

In the following over, Mitchell Owen and Andries Gous hammered Shadley van Schalkwyk for two sixes and two fours, collecting 19 runs. Owen, our flamboyant opener, continued the assault by taking 16 runs off Jason Holder before falling for a well-made 11-ball 32 in the same over.

Despite Owen’s dismissal, Gous kept the momentum going, hitting Dry for consecutive fours to bring up the team’s fifty. However, he was dismissed in the fourth over. Jack Edwards also fell cheaply during his brief stay at the crease.

Captain Maxwell then walked in to join Chapman at 68/4 in the eighth over. The pair stitched together a 24-run partnership before debutant Chapman departed for 17.

At the other end, Maxwell played a counter-attacking knock. He clobbered Tanveer Sangha for three consecutive sixes in the 14th over, amassing 21 runs.

Our skipper then smashed Dry for two more sixes and followed it up with a maximum off Sunil Narine to bring up his 29-ball fifty.

In the final few overs, Maxwell went into overdrive, launching the Knight Riders’ bowlers to all parts of the ground. He brought up a magnificent century off just 48 balls.

He remained unbeaten on 106 and forged an unbroken 116-run partnership with Obus Pienaar for the sixth wicket, helping us post our highest-ever total in MLC history — 208/5.

Defending 208, Saurabh Netravalkar struck early, removing Alex Hales for a duck in the first over.

Debutant Mark Adair joined the party in the next over, knocking over Sunil Narine’s stumps for a golden duck.

Jack Edwards then provided our third breakthrough, cleaning up LAKR wicketkeeper-batter Unmukt Chand - also for a duck.

Edwards soon struck again to dismiss Rovman Powell, while Owen removed Matthew Tromp to reduce the Knight Riders to 26/5 by the eighth over.

While Saif Badar (32) and captain Jason Holder (23) showed some resistance for LAKR, our bowlers kept chipping away with wickets at regular intervals, eventually bowling them out for 95 to register a thumping 113-run victory in our final game in California.

Edwards and Owen were the chief destroyers with three wickets apiece, while Netravalkar chipped in with two scalps. Adair and Ian Holland took one wicket each.

For his match-winning knock, Maxwell was named Player of the Match. His blistering century included two fours and 13 sixes.

“The attitude in the group has been outstanding. I feel the boys have been resilient. They’ve been finding ways to win,” Maxwell said at the post-match presentation.

Following this commanding display, we head to Dallas to take on MI New York at Grand Prairie Stadium on Saturday.

Washington Freedom vs Los Angeles Knight Riders, MLC 2025, brief scores: WF 208/5 in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 106 not out, Mitchell Owen 32; Corne Dry 2/33) beat LAKR 95/10 in 16.3 overs (Saif Badar 32, Jason Holder 23; Jack Edwards 3/15) by 113 runs.