MLC 2025
Maxwell’s hundred came off just 48 balls. © MLC
Led by Glenn Maxwell’s blazing century and Mitch Owen’s all-round effort, Washington Freedom handed Los Angeles Knight Riders their third successive defeat in MLC 2025. On Tuesday night, they were humbled by 113 runs as Freedom secured their second win.
Put in to bat, Owen blazed away to a 11-ball 32, taking down Corne Dry, Shadley van Schalkwyk and Jason Holder in the process. Even as Freedom had lost three wickets within the first four overs, they had powered to 53 runs. With wickets continuing to fall at regular intervals, the scoring rate slowed down therafter, and by the end of the 13th over, the defending champions were reduced to 98 for 5.
However, that’s when the out-of-form Maxwell took off. The skipper smoked three consecutive sixes off Jason Sangha and set the base for a late flourish. A couple of overs later, he smashed Narine for another six to bring up his half-century. The six-fest continued, with Dry, Holder and Andre Russell also bearing the brunt of his assault, which included 13 hits over the ropes and only two fours, as he finished unbeaten on 106 en route taking his team to a formidable 208 for 5.
Obus Pienaar, who played the supporting act in the 116-run unbeaten alliance for the sixth wicket, added only 14 off 15 balls.
In response, LAKR were pushed on the backfoot early, with none of the top-three managing to get off the mark. In fact, only two of the top-8 batters managed to reach double digit scores. While Saurabh Netrawalkar and Mark Adair did the early damage, Mitch Owen and Jack Edwards piled on quickly as LAKR were reduced to 26 for 5 midway through the eighth over.
Sai Badar and Holder stitched a 35-run stand for the sixth wicket to bail the side out from a precarious position, but never to a point where they seemed in a position to attempt a win. Once Badar was trapped legbefore by Owen, another collapse followed.
Dry and van Schalkwyk provided some resistance but it was all a matter of formality before they were bundled out for 95 in the 17th over.
Brief Scores: Washington Freedom 208/5 in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 106, Mitch Owen 32; Corne Dry 2-33, Tanveer Sangha 2-38) beat Los Angeles Knight Riders 95 in 16.3 overs (Saif Badar 32, Jason Holder 23; Jack Edwards 3-15, Mitch Owen 3-16) by 113 runs
© Cricbuzz
