Defending Champions MI New York on bring of elimination after getting all out for 88, Steve Smith’s Washington Freedom qualify for MLC 2024 playoffs – thesportstak

Defending champions MI New York got bowled out for 88 after yet another batting collapse and lost to Steve Smith’s Washington Freedom by 94 runs at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas on July 16. MI New York are on the brink of elimination after losing their third encounter of the ongoing Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024. With their fourth win of the tournament, unbeaten Washington Freedom have become the first team to qualify for playoffs. 
 

Head, Gous hit fifties

Earlier, Kieron Pollard won the toss and opted to bowl first. Travis Head did the bulk of scoring in powerplay overs while Smith lost his wicket to Rashid Khan in the fifth over. Andries Gous took his time to settle but Head made up for it. In the 10th over, he hit Ehsan Adil for two fours and a six. The Australian opener reached his fifty from 28 balls. Gous went after Rashid and hit two sixes to help Washington Freedom reach 100-run mark in the 11th over.

The partnership was broken by Romario Shepherd in the 12th over. Head departed for a 33-ball 54. In Rashid’s last over, Glenn Maxwell got knocked over for a 14-ball 15. Gous reached his half-century from 44 balls in the penultimate over. Rachin Ravindra hit his national teammate Trent Boult for two sixes and a four. He departed in the final over for a 14-ball 31 cameo. Gous hit a six before falling to Pollard on the final ball. His 48-ball 59 helped Washington Freedom post 182/5.

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Batting collapse of epic proportions

MI New York suffered a horrendous batting collapse. Marco Jansen got rid of Steve Taylor for a three-ball duck in the first over. Jessy Singh started with Monank Patel’s wicket in his first over. Shayan Jahangir got a second chance as Jasdeep Singh dropped his catch off Jansen’s bowling. Dewald Brevis failed to perform and departed for a single-digit score in Jessy’s second over. Jahangir could not make the most of dropped chance and lost his wicket to Jansen. The first boundary of the innings came off Nicholas Pooran’s bat in the fifth over. But Pooran failed to rescue MI New York and lost his wicket to Lockie Ferguson. Skipper Pollard couldn’t do damage control either and became Jessy’s third victim of the evening. MI New York lost six wickets for 25 runs in the seventh over.

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Cameos help MI New York avoid further embarrassment

Rashid in the seventh over hit the first six of the innings. He joined his teammates in the dressing room after falling to Ferguson in the ninth over. Romario Shepherd took on Ferguson to take MI New York’s score past 50. Boult got an early reprieve as his catch was dropped. Surprisingly, he hit Maxwell for a six in the same over. Shepherd’s cameo was ended by Ian Holland. He scored 25 runs from 14 balls. In the 14th over, Maxwell struck twice to dismiss Maxwell and Adil. MI New York were bowled out for 88 in 13.3 overs. This is the second-lowest score in MLC history.
 

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