NEW DELHI:
Washington Freedom
became the first team to qualify for the Major League Cricket 2024 playoffs with a crushing 94-run victory against
MI New York
at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Tuesday.
Washington Freedom extended their winning streak to four matches as chasing 183, defending champions MI New York were bundled out for a paltry 88 runs.
Washington Freedom, asked to bat first, put up a strong 182/5 in their 20 overs. Before getting out of the Powerplay to
Rashid Khan
, captain
Steven Smith
was unable to make much of an impression, managing only eight runs off ten balls.
But with a strong partnership that saw them score more than 70 runs for the second wicket,
Travis Head
and
Andries Gous
steadied the innings. Gous made 59 off 48 balls, while Head scored a quick 54 off 33 balls.
Rachin Ravindra helped Washington Freedom surpass 180 runs in the last over with a quick 14-ball 31. For MI New York,
Kieron Pollard
and Rashid Khan each took two wickets, while Romario Shepherd claimed one wicket.
The MI New York run chase was off to a terrible start as they were losing wickets frequently and were unable to form any meaningful partnerships.
With the new ball, Marco Jansen and Jasdeep Singh caused mayhem, dismissing four New York hitters in the first four overs. After being skittled for just 88 runs in 13.3 overs, the reigning champs fell apart like a house of cards.
Only
Trent Boult
(16 off 13) and Romario Shepherd (25 off 14) were able to score in double figures for the Men in Blue and Gold.
Jasdeep Singh was the Washington Freedom's standout performer with the ball with three wickets and got the player of the match award. Lockie Ferguson, Ian Holland, and Marco Jansen each took two wickets, and
Glenn Maxwell
took one wicket to help bring about the defeat of New York.
English (US) ·