174/8 (20.0)
CR : 8.70
192/8 (20.0)
CR : 9.60
Los Angeles Knight Riders won by 18 runs 🏆
Player of the Match
Sunil Narine
1/140(1)*
LAKR won by 18 runs
9:36 AM IST, 11:06 PM Local Time: LAKR win by 18 Runs! The Los Angeles Knight Riders have finally found a way to beat the Washington Freedom. Remember, they were 0/5 in their previous attempts. However, today the story was different, and they were much superior with bat and ball which has earned them a crucial victory. They move to number 3 in the points table and that is a big leap.
Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field first. They started off well by reducing LAKR to 17/2. A solid 110-run stand from Andre Fletcher (59) and Matthew Tromp (50) followed that and brought LAKR back on track. Both batters got to their 50s and then got dismissed in quick succession. Two more quick wickets followed, and the Knight Riders slipped from 127/2 to 144/6. It felt like they were about to bottle a good start. That is when, lusty late order blows from Saif Badar (24 off 12) and Jahmar Hamilton (22* off 12) pushed the score to 192/8 at the end of 20 overs. The pick of the bowlers for the Freedom were Saurabh Netravalkar (3-33) and Ben Dwarshuis (2-37).
The chase did not start on the best note for the Freedom. They lost 3 wickets in the powerplay. Steve Smith with his 8 off 17 struggled to get any sort of momentum while Mitch Owen and Rachin Ravindra, struck a couple before finding the fielders. The Freedom were down to 41/3 in the first 6. That is when a counterattacking stand of 71(44) between Andries Gous and Lahiru Milantha brought things back on track. Gous added 37 and Milantha had 40 to his name before both set batters were dismissed by Ali Khan in the same over to reduce the Freedom to 117/5.
Nikhil Chaudhary (17 off 11) and Ben Dwarshuis (19 off 9) led a mini comeback before Shadley van Schalkwyk, who was having a bad day until then, got both batters dismissed in the same over. The Freedom were in big trouble at that stage with 151/7 on the board. Another 42 runs were required off 18 balls. It was a very tall ask and the Freedom well short by 18 runs in the end. They were restricted to 174/8 in their 20 overs. The readings of the bowlers were Andre Russell (3-34), Ali Khan (2-18), Shadley van Schalkwyk (2-60) and Sunil Narine (1-14).
Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field first. They started off well by reducing LAKR to 17/2. A solid 110-run stand from Andre Fletcher (59) and Matthew Tromp (50) followed that and brought LAKR back on track. Both batters got to their 50s and then got dismissed in quick succession. Two more quick wickets followed, and the Knight Riders slipped from 127/2 to 144/6. It felt like they were about to bottle a good start. That is when, lusty late order blows from Saif Badar (24 off 12) and Jahmar Hamilton (22* off 12) pushed the score to 192/8 at the end of 20 overs. The pick of the bowlers for the Freedom were Saurabh Netravalkar (3-33) and Ben Dwarshuis (2-37).
The chase did not start on the best note for the Freedom. They lost 3 wickets in the powerplay. Steve Smith with his 8 off 17 struggled to get any sort of momentum while Mitch Owen and Rachin Ravindra, struck a couple before finding the fielders. The Freedom were down to 41/3 in the first 6. That is when a counterattacking stand of 71(44) between Andries Gous and Lahiru Milantha brought things back on track. Gous added 37 and Milantha had 40 to his name before both set batters were dismissed by Ali Khan in the same over to reduce the Freedom to 117/5.
Nikhil Chaudhary (17 off 11) and Ben Dwarshuis (19 off 9) led a mini comeback before Shadley van Schalkwyk, who was having a bad day until then, got both batters dismissed in the same over. The Freedom were in big trouble at that stage with 151/7 on the board. Another 42 runs were required off 18 balls. It was a very tall ask and the Freedom well short by 18 runs in the end. They were restricted to 174/8 in their 20 overs. The readings of the bowlers were Andre Russell (3-34), Ali Khan (2-18), Shadley van Schalkwyk (2-60) and Sunil Narine (1-14).
Steve Smith (Washington Freedom Captain): "[Where they let the game drift away in the first innings] They had a good partnership there. Tromp and Fletcher played a nice innings and got their team into the game. Our bowlers did pretty well. Thought the pitch was slower than before and our bowlers did well to restrict them. We thought it was chaseable.
[Promotions to Lahiru Milantha and Ben Dwarshuis] Lefties to the short side, so wanted to make use of it. Thought they played nice cameos but unfortunately wasn't enough.
[On the upcoming fixtures] Important two games. Back-to-back games, day matches. We need to win them."
[Promotions to Lahiru Milantha and Ben Dwarshuis] Lefties to the short side, so wanted to make use of it. Thought they played nice cameos but unfortunately wasn't enough.
[On the upcoming fixtures] Important two games. Back-to-back games, day matches. We need to win them."
Time for the post-match Presentation!
Andries Gous gets the 'Longest Six of the Match' award.
Jack Edwards gets the 'Play of the Day' award.
Sunil Narine gets the 'Most Valuable Player of the Match' award.
Sunil Narine (MVP): "[Plan behind being a Powerplay heavy bowler this season] Think it just happened. We needed to keep the Powerplay tight, we came up with a plan and it worked, hopefully it will continue.
[Planning for the opposition] When you focus on opposition, you are under pressure. So, you just focus on yourself and focus on what you practiced to execute."
[Planning for the opposition] When you focus on opposition, you are under pressure. So, you just focus on yourself and focus on what you practiced to execute."
Jason Holder (Los Angeles Knight Riders Captain): "[What changed the game in their favour?] I think the spells by Ali Khan and Sunil Narine. Those two spells set us apart. I think Russell also bowled a good spell. The guys hung in there. It was a closely fought game. A game that we needed to win to give us the needed momentum. Outstanding team effort.
[On giving Sunil Narine a 3rd over in the powerplay] We knew we needed wickets. If we can get a wicket of any set batter it will help stem the flow of runs that would be great. He has been doing that all season for us and glad he could today as well.
[How close are they to a perfect game?] I don't think we are far off. I said that this afternoon in our team meeting as well. We have had a loft of glimpses of great stuff but all in all we faulter in games here and there. Today was a great performance and it was crucial to get over the line."
[On giving Sunil Narine a 3rd over in the powerplay] We knew we needed wickets. If we can get a wicket of any set batter it will help stem the flow of runs that would be great. He has been doing that all season for us and glad he could today as well.
[How close are they to a perfect game?] I don't think we are far off. I said that this afternoon in our team meeting as well. We have had a loft of glimpses of great stuff but all in all we faulter in games here and there. Today was a great performance and it was crucial to get over the line."
With that another single header day comes to an end at the MLC. We have no more of those for the league stage as Friday, Saturday and Sunday give us 3 back-to-back double headers. The table is intensifying and we still have no clue of who all will make it for the playoffs.
Join us tomorrow for MI New York vs Seattle Orcas at 2 AM IST (3:30 PM Local Time) and San Francisco Unicorns vs Los Angeles Knight Riders at 6 AM IST (7:30 PM Local Time)
On that thrilling note, I, Manan Mehta would like to take your leave on behalf of my colleagues Karthik Raj and Bishal Mandal. B-byeeee!!!
Join us tomorrow for MI New York vs Seattle Orcas at 2 AM IST (3:30 PM Local Time) and San Francisco Unicorns vs Los Angeles Knight Riders at 6 AM IST (7:30 PM Local Time)
On that thrilling note, I, Manan Mehta would like to take your leave on behalf of my colleagues Karthik Raj and Bishal Mandal. B-byeeee!!!