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Steve Smith-led Washington Freedom defeated San Francisco Unicorns in Qualifier 1 by 7 wickets of the ongoing edition of the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024, held at Grand Prairie Stadium In Dallas, on July 26 (Friday). Freedom comfortably chased down 146 with 27 balls and seven wickets to spare. Australian stars Travis Head (77* off 44) and Glenn Maxwell (54* off 23) held their nerves during the chase taking the team over the line. Rachin Ravindra was the pick of the bowlers (4 for just 11 runs) and he got perfect support from Marco Jansen (3-46) in bundling out Unicorns for 145. Despite Hassan Khan (57 off 36 and 2-32) putting up a valiant all-round performance, Unicorns were thrashed in a one-sided affair. Washington Freedom has qualified for the Final, while San Francisco Unicorns will take on Texas Super Kings in Qualifier 2 for the remaining final spot.
Rachin- Marco Show
Steve Smith won the toss and invited Unicorns to bat first. The Unicorns had an awful start as they lost 4 wickets even before reaching the 50-run mark. Marco Jansen was lethal in this march dismissing Finn Allen for a mere 6 runs in the first over and later dismissing Josh Inglis for 8 runs in the 6th over. Saurabh Netravalkar also got better off Jake Fraser-McGurk dismissing him in the fourth over. Rachin Ravindra had a phenomenal day, his first wicket was the young batting sensation Sanjay Krishnamurthi,. which he picked up in the seventh over, later it was followed by three more wickets. He ended with mind-boggling figures of 4 wickets by giving a mere 11 runs. Hassan Khan was the lone batter to have fought bravely along with skipper Corey Anderson in the first innings. Hassan Khan scored 57 off 36 and Anderson scored 26 off 19 balls, helping the team reach a respectable score of 145.
Kangaroos delivering on the big day
Pat Cummins' impactful start for San Francisco Unicorns included dismissing Steve Smith (1 off 3) early and delivering a maiden over. However, Carmi le Roux struggled as Travis Head aggressively scored 31 runs off his two overs, and added 13 more off Haris Rauf, pushing Washington Freedom to 52/1 by the Powerplay's end. Andries Gous (9 off 14) fell to Hassan Khan in the seventh over, followed by Rachin Ravindra (3 off 9) in the ninth, leaving Washington at 64/3. Head's rapid fifty off 28 balls in the 10th over set the pace, and with Glenn Maxwell joining in, they cruised past 100 runs in the 13th over, clinching victory by the 16th over. Head scored 77 off 44 balls while Glenn Maxwell scored 54 of 23 balls.
Travis head continued his purple patch scoring 5th consecutive fifty in T20 becoming only the second Australian behind David Warner to achieve the feat. Travis head was also awarded as the player of the match for scoring 50 at a strike rate of 175 and ensuring the chase in the early overs itself.
"Good fun, we have a good bunch of guys who have gelled together quickly. Been a good campaign, helps when you're winning along the way. Credit to us, we played really well. Nice to get to the big dance. We wanted to take wickets with the new ball, it gets easier as the game gets on so always good to make early inroads. I think the bowlers did well to keep them to 145 which was a bit under par. Travis and Maxi then played unbelievably well. (On Travis Head) He's clear, he's confident. He sees the ball and hits it. Today the ball hit the edge of his bat a few times but it was still flying. Hopefully, he has one more big knock in him" said Steve Smith after the win.
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