Cricket Highlights, 23 July: MLC 2023 (Match 11) – Washington Freedom vs San Francisco Unicorns

Washington Freedom vs San Francisco Unicorns (Match 11) – Highlights

Washington Freedom and San Francisco Unicorns met in the 11th match of Major League Cricket starting this year. Batting first in that match, Washington Freedom set a massive target in the allotted 20 overs. Chasing that target, the San Francisco Unicorns folded before the end of the scheduled 20 overs. As a result, they left the field with a big margin of 30 runs. On the other hand, Saurabh Netravalkar won the man-of-the-match title by bowling brilliantly for Washington Freedom.

The San Francisco Unicorns Captain won the toss and elected to bowl first and invited Washington Freedom to bat. Batting first, Washington Freedom’s openers could not get off to a good start. They lost 4 wickets by 33 runs. Their wicketkeeper Andries Gous left the field first. He left the field after being trapped by Harris Rauf’s LBW. He scored 23 runs off 16 balls with 5 fours before getting out.

Mathew Short returned to the dressing room after scoring 5 runs off 10 balls. Golden duck was shot by Glenn Phillips. And Mukhtar Ahmed played 4 balls and scored only 1 run. After that, Captain Moises Henriques left the field at the 73 runs for the team. He scored 30 runs off 27 balls with the help of 3 fours. After some time, Akeal Hossain returned to dressing room, scoring 7 runs in 7 balls.

Obus Pienaar had to leave the field on the 1st ball of the 18th over. He played an innings of 29 runs off 28 balls with the help of 1 four and 1 six. In the very last ball, Dane Piedt left the field and returned to the dressing room. He scored 12 runs off 12 balls with the help of 1 four. In addition, Marco Janssen remained undefeated in the end. He also scored 19 runs off 15 balls with the help of 2 fours. In the end, their innings ended at just 133 for the loss of 8 wickets, including 7 runs extra. 

Although the batsmen played mediocre in this match, the bowlers showed their game. The batsmen could not survive their fiery bowling. Haris Rauf took 3 wickets for 20 runs in 4 overs for San Francisco Unicorns. Liam Plunkett took 2 wickets. Besides, Marcus Stoinis took 1 wicket.

The San Francisco Unicorns were bowled out for just 103 runs with 1 ball remaining while batting for the target of 134. Corey Anderson scored the most runs for them. He scored 34 runs off 34 balls with the help of 4 fours and 1 six. Captain Aaron Finch played a bad innings of 14 runs off 28 balls. Chaitanya Bishnoi scored 16 runs off 16 balls with 1 six. Finn Allen scored 13 runs off 9 balls with the help of 3 fours. Also, no one else could reach the 2-digit mark. 

Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf scored golden ducks for them. Matthew Wade scored 8 runs. Marcus Stoinis scored 3 runs off 6 balls. Liam Plunkett scored 5 runs. Tajinder Dhillon and Karmi Le Roux also scored 1 run.

Saurabh Netravalkar played a crucial role in bowling for Washington Freedom. He took 6 wickets with just 9 runs in 3.5 overs. Besides, Marco Jansen, Anrich Nortje, Akeal Hossain, and Dane Piedt took 1 wicket each. 

Washington Freedom vs San Francisco Unicorns Scoreboard

Washington Freedom – 133/8 (20.0)

San Francisco Unicorns – 103/10 (19.5)

Result – Washington Freedom won by 30 runs 

Player of the match – Saurabh Netravalkar 

Saurabh Netravalkar

Washington Freedom vs San Francisco Unicorns Playing XIs