MLC 2025
The defending champions were humbled in the season opener by San Francisco Unicorns © MLC
There’s getting your boat rocked sideways, and then there’s that season opener for Washington Freedom. The defending champions started out by taking a big hit on their title-winning aura in the first match of the new season. In their defence, the conditions were new (to both sides) in the maiden MLC game at the Oakland Coliseum in California, and for the first six overs of the chase, they were right in it.
It then unravelled, rather dramatically. The Glenn Maxwell-led side, however, can take solace from the fact that this was merely the first game of the season and that they have enough room to shrug off this false start and get a quick move on.
Standing in their way of such an endeavour is a revamped Seattle Orcas unit. The Orcas finished bottom of the table in 2024 and came down heavily on the reset button. Even their captain from the 2023 season – Wayne Parnell – was deemed dispensible. Heinrich Klaasen, the skipper since last year, will have global stars like David Warner and Sikandar Raza to rely on this season, with the Zimbabwean set for his first T20 league sojourn in the US.
When: Washington Freedom vs Seattle Orcas, Saturday, June 14, 6:00 PM Local Time
Where: Oakland Coliseum, California
What to expect:Big scores. The season got a flying start there with San Francisco Unicorns smashing records on their way to 269/5. Much of the same is anticipated going forward at this new venue.
Team News:
Washington Freedom: The bowlers had a nightmarish start to the season but it is unlikely that the team will be reactionary with their selections this early in the season.
Probable XI: Andries Gous (wk), Mitchell Owen, Mukhtar Ahmed, Rachin Ravindra, Jack Edwards, Glenn Maxwell (c), Glenn Phillips, Obus Pienaar, Ian Holland, Ben Sears, Saurabh Netravalkar
Seattle Orcas: The 2023 finalists will hope to hit those highs again, pinning a lot of hopes on new recruits like Warner, Raza and Shimron Hetmyer, though the West Indian arrives after an underwhelming IPL campaign. Yet, there will be cause for some optimism for the West Indian himself, whose last game in this format was just four days ago for West Indies in Southampton, where he scored an eight-ball 26.
Probable XI:David Warner, Steven Taylor, Sujit Nayak, Heinrich Klaasen (c&wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Sikandar Raza, Harmeet Singh, Aaron Jones, Gulbadin Naib, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Cameron Gannon
© Cricbuzz
