190/5 (18.3)
CR : 10.27
187/8 (20.0)
CR : 9.35
Washington Freedom won by 5 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Andries Gous
96(54)
Over 19
Washington Freedom 190/5
Glenn Maxwell12(5)
Nikhil Chaudhary3(4)
Rushil Ugarkar1-38(3.3)
WF won by 5 wickets
05:37 AM IST, 07:07 PM Local Time: What a clinical chase from Washington Freedom as they complete a five-wicket win over MI New York with nine balls to spare. With this victory, Freedom move to 12 points and have given a good chance of finishing in the Top 2 depending on the next match's result!
Chasing 188 for victory, Mitchell Owen struck a six early in the innings but he fell for just 7 in the second over off Shakib Al Hasan's bowling. Steve Smith also struggled during his stay and fell for 3 (8) as he holed out to deep square-leg off Trent Boult's bowling. Andries Gous and Rachin Ravindra made sure there was no further wicket in the Powerplay as they got to 44/2.
Gous wasn't fluent in the beginning but Ravindra took the initiative and kept the scoring in check. The Kiwi went onto register his fifty off 26 balls in the 13th over. In the next over, Gous also started to move on as he struck a six to reach his fifty off 38 balls. However, a few deliveries later, Ravindra failed to clear long-off off Rushil Ugarkar's bowling with Nicholas Pooran completing a cracking catch.
Kieron Pollard came into the attack and produced an economical over but the game flipped completely in the 16th over when Gous got stuck into Romario Shepherd with 22 runs coming off it. Boult wasn't going to give up though as he castled Ben Dwarshuis with a slow yorker and ended up conceding only four runs. The game continued to see-saw as Gous struck a couple of sixes off Ehsan Adil to ease whatever little pressure there was on the Freedom. Just as it looked Gous will get to his maiden MLC century, Kieron Pollard pluck out a jaw-dropping catch at long-off to produce an anti-climatic moment. There weren't any more twists after that though as Maxwell came in and finished the match off with his unbeaten 5-ball 12!
Earlier in the match, Saurabh Netravalkar and Glenn Maxwell ensured that MI New York could only make 42/2 in the Powerplay as they accounted for the wickets of Monank Patel and Quinton de Kock respectively. Then, Nicholas Pooran shared a superb 90-run stand with Kunwarjeet Singh. Ian Holland eventually broke the partnership in the 13th but Pooran continued to smack the bowlers for fun with MI New York moving to 150/3 at the end of 15 overs.
Netravalkar came back into the attack and trapped Pooran in front for a 44-ball 86 and that saw MI New York collapse. Rachin Ravindra came into the attack and produced a couple of crucial strikes in the form of Kieron Pollard and Romario Shepherd while the boundaries completely dried up. Shakib Al Hasan did come up with a handy cameo striking a couple of boundaries in the penultimate over but Ben Dwarshuis got two scalps and conceded only nine in the final over to restrict MI New York to 187/8!
Chasing 188 for victory, Mitchell Owen struck a six early in the innings but he fell for just 7 in the second over off Shakib Al Hasan's bowling. Steve Smith also struggled during his stay and fell for 3 (8) as he holed out to deep square-leg off Trent Boult's bowling. Andries Gous and Rachin Ravindra made sure there was no further wicket in the Powerplay as they got to 44/2.
Gous wasn't fluent in the beginning but Ravindra took the initiative and kept the scoring in check. The Kiwi went onto register his fifty off 26 balls in the 13th over. In the next over, Gous also started to move on as he struck a six to reach his fifty off 38 balls. However, a few deliveries later, Ravindra failed to clear long-off off Rushil Ugarkar's bowling with Nicholas Pooran completing a cracking catch.
Kieron Pollard came into the attack and produced an economical over but the game flipped completely in the 16th over when Gous got stuck into Romario Shepherd with 22 runs coming off it. Boult wasn't going to give up though as he castled Ben Dwarshuis with a slow yorker and ended up conceding only four runs. The game continued to see-saw as Gous struck a couple of sixes off Ehsan Adil to ease whatever little pressure there was on the Freedom. Just as it looked Gous will get to his maiden MLC century, Kieron Pollard pluck out a jaw-dropping catch at long-off to produce an anti-climatic moment. There weren't any more twists after that though as Maxwell came in and finished the match off with his unbeaten 5-ball 12!
Earlier in the match, Saurabh Netravalkar and Glenn Maxwell ensured that MI New York could only make 42/2 in the Powerplay as they accounted for the wickets of Monank Patel and Quinton de Kock respectively. Then, Nicholas Pooran shared a superb 90-run stand with Kunwarjeet Singh. Ian Holland eventually broke the partnership in the 13th but Pooran continued to smack the bowlers for fun with MI New York moving to 150/3 at the end of 15 overs.
Netravalkar came back into the attack and trapped Pooran in front for a 44-ball 86 and that saw MI New York collapse. Rachin Ravindra came into the attack and produced a couple of crucial strikes in the form of Kieron Pollard and Romario Shepherd while the boundaries completely dried up. Shakib Al Hasan did come up with a handy cameo striking a couple of boundaries in the penultimate over but Ben Dwarshuis got two scalps and conceded only nine in the final over to restrict MI New York to 187/8!
Nicholas Pooran (MI New York Captain): "[What's the reason for the loss - batting or bowling] I am not going to blame any batter or bowler. Thought 185 was a very good score on that surface. We did well with the ball in the Powerplay. Rachin (Ravindra) and (Andries) Gousy played very well. The wind also changed directions, so we didn't know what to do. Gous took advantage and took the game away. Credit to him. We just looked to take it deep.
[About getting back into form with the bat] Feeling good. Always happy to contribute.
[About the play-offs] Tough to lose but we are feeling good ahead of the Play-offs. Last year, we won from the Eliminator. We are looking forward to the opportunity in San Fran regardless of who we play."
[About getting back into form with the bat] Feeling good. Always happy to contribute.
[About the play-offs] Tough to lose but we are feeling good ahead of the Play-offs. Last year, we won from the Eliminator. We are looking forward to the opportunity in San Fran regardless of who we play."
Nicholas Pooran gets the 'Power Hitter of the Match' award.
Andries Gous gets the 'Play of the Day' award.
Andries Gous gets the 'Most Valuable Player of the Match' award.
Andries Gous (Most Valuable Player): "[Feeling right now] Yeah, it is very good that we got over the line. Was gutted to not get those four runs but very happy for us.
I think the wicket got better. Nicky (Nicholas Pooran) batted beautifully to get them to that total. For us, it was the same. We knew with the wind, just had to take it deep. Hopefully, I can take this to Oakland!"
I think the wicket got better. Nicky (Nicholas Pooran) batted beautifully to get them to that total. For us, it was the same. We knew with the wind, just had to take it deep. Hopefully, I can take this to Oakland!"
Steve Smith (Washington Freedom Captain): "Yeah, it is a nice way to head off to San Francisco.
[Whether they will watch the final league game] We will watch the game later tonight. We can't control what happens now. We would love to be in the Top 2 and get two bites at the cherry, fingers crossed.
Everyone has been standing up at different points. Rachin and Gous played superbly during the middle-overs to get us the win."
[Whether they will watch the final league game] We will watch the game later tonight. We can't control what happens now. We would love to be in the Top 2 and get two bites at the cherry, fingers crossed.
Everyone has been standing up at different points. Rachin and Gous played superbly during the middle-overs to get us the win."
So, that is it from myself, Karthik Raj as I wrap up the coverage of this fixture. A note of thanks to our scorer, Bishal Mandal as well. Do switch over to the coverage of the game between Los Angeles Knight Riders and Texas Super Kings which could decide who out of LAKR and Washington Freedom finish in the Top 2. Until next time, it is a warm good-bye.