Washington Freedom extend dominance to book a place in the MLC 2025 Qualifier

Washington Freedom sealed a top-two finish in the ongoing Cognizant Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025 season after defeating MI New York by six wickets at Broward County Stadium in Florida on Sunday.

Opting to bat first, MI New York posted 112/8 after the match was reduced to an 18-overs-a-side game due to wet outfield.

Captain Glenn Maxwell was the wrecker-in-chief for us with three scalps, while Glenn Phillips picked up two wickets. Jack Edwards, Rachin Ravindra and Saurabh Netravalkar chipped in with one scalp apiece.

In reply, wicketkeeper-batter Andries Gous played a match-winning knock of unbeaten 46, along with contributions from Mark Chapman (27) and Glenn Phillips (14 not out) to help the reigning champions chase down the target in just 15 overs.

Having registered our eighth victory this season, we stormed to the top of the points table with 16 points from 10 games to book our place in the MLC 2025 Qualifier, scheduled to be played on Tuesday.

Earlier, the toss and match were delayed due to inclement weather conditions.

MI New York skipper Nicholas Pooran later won the toss and opted to bat first.

Maxwell led from the front with an early breakthrough as he dismissed MINY wicketkeeper-batter Monank Patel (6) in the second over.

Right-arm pacer Jack Edwards soon joined the party after he claimed the huge wicket of Pooran (12) in the following over.

Struggling at 20/2, MI New York’s opening batter Kunwarjeet Singh and middle-order batter Tajinder Dhillon added 34 runs for the third wicket.

Later, in the eighth over, Maxwell continued his excellent spell as he removed Dhillon (12), and then trapped Sharad Lumba (0) in front of the stumps in back-to-back deliveries to reduce MINY to 56/4.

Our bowlers continued to chip away with crucial wickets at regular intervals as Glenn Phillips got the better of Kunwarjeet (33) in the 11th over. Phillips inflicted more misery as he removed Delano Potgieter (2) in the same over.

Rachin Ravindra then dismissed Fabian Allen for a run-a-ball 11 as MI New York were reeling at 81/7 in the 14th over.

In the final over, star pacer Saurabh Netravalkar removed Sunny Patel to help us restrict MI New York to 112/8.

Chasing 113, in-form Mitchell Owen slammed a couple of boundaries before our swashbuckling opener departed for 12 in the second over.

Batting at No.3, Gous hammered Tristan Luus for three fours to accumulate 14 runs in the fourth over. Gous then hit Nosthush Kenjige for another boundary to put the pressure back on the opposition bowlers.

However, we suffered another blow as Ravindra fell for 9 after the powerplay.

After walking out to bat at 43/2, Chapman soon clobbered Dhillon for a huge maximum to notch up the team’s fifty in 6.3 overs.

Chapman continued the momentum with some exquisite shots before we lost the southpaw and skipper Maxwell in quick succession.

Phillips and Gous later stitched an unbroken 33-run stand for the fifth wicket to help us seal a top-two finish.

For his game-changing spell of 4-0-29-3, Maxwell bagged his second consecutive Player of the Match award.

After our dominant run in the league stage, we will aim to continue the winning momentum in the MLC 2025 Qualifier on Tuesday.

Washington Freedom vs MI New York, MLC 2025, brief scores: MINY 112/8 in 18 overs (Kunwarjeet Singh 33, Heath Richards 16 not out; Glenn Maxwell 3/29) lost to WF 113/2 in 15 overs (Andries Gous 46 not out, Mark Chapman 27; Tristan Luus 2/39) by 6 wickets.