Saurab Netravalkar and Travis Head were the standout performers for Washington Freedom. The US bowler bowled amazingly well to restrict the LA Knight Riders, and Head batted congenially to take his team home. Both of these performances made the difference in getting this eight-wicket win for Washington.
The effort of the two players helped the Washington Freedom team register a comprehensive victory over the Los Angeles Knight Riders. This win gave them their third consecutive win in the MLC tournament. The match was played at Church Street Park in Morrisville, where the Freedom batted to victory through the field.
Saurab Netravalkar and Head’s Fabulous Start
These Washington bowlers, Saurabh and Glenn Maxwell did a clinical job with the ball. They restricted the Knight Riders of Los Angeles to 129 runs. The disciplined bowling attack kept pressure on the Knight Riders by not allowing them to score freely in any way and continuing to take wickets at very regular intervals. This restricted the team batting first, to a mere total of 128.
Meanwhile, Travis Head and Steven Smith gave a good start to the Washington Freedom in the second innings. With some aggressive batting by Head, Smith played a compact innings to keep up the pace of the chase. The position, therefore, by the end of the powerplay—61/0—had the Washington side very much ahead of the required run rate.
Travis Head reached his half-century in just 27 balls against the visitors, stroking six sixes. His explosive batting put Washington in a commanding position. However, his innings came to an end in the ninth over when Shadley Van Schalkwyk dismissed him and broke the 79-run stand with Smith.
After Head’s dismissal, Rachin Ravindra joined Steven Smith. They shared 28 runs, with Smith starting to take off. However, Ravindra was dismissed by Spencer Johnson in the 13th over, leaving Washington at 109/2. Andries Gous joined the crease alongside Smith and the duo took their team through to victory, ending at 130/2 in just 16 overs.
Knight Riders’ Struggling Start
LA Knight Riders got off to a disastrous start in their innings. They were 39/4 during the powerplay as they lost key wickets up front when Saurabh Netravalkar struck twice in the second over, removing Sunil Narine and Unmukt Chand. Moreover, Glenn Maxwell and Lockie Ferguson carried forward the collapse, taking important wickets.
The Knight Riders were then stabilized by Nitish Kumar and Saif Badar. They got together for a 44-run stand, where Badar counter-attacked on Netravalkar in an over, hitting 17 runs. However, both batsmen went quickly thereafter to make lives difficult for the Knight Riders.
Andre Russell was dangerous for an odd period, picking up 20 runs from just 12 balls before Maxwell got him as his third wicket. Then, Lockie Ferguson got David Miller, as the Knight Riders were reduced to 89/8. The tail-enders waged a hard battle to push the score to 129 before being bowled out in 18.4 overs.
In the end, Washington Freedom chased down the target quite comfortably. They won comprehensively by eight wickets owing to solid knocks from their top-order batsmen along with an excellent bowling performance. Apart from boosting their confidence, this win also makes them one of the strong contenders in the MLC tournament.
This performance by Washington Freedom certainly sets the bar high for the rest of the games. With Netravalkar and Head firing on all cylinders, the confidence they must be brimming with regarding what is to come in the future can only be imagined. Further down the line, such consistency in performance and teamwork will be very instrumental in their run towards the MLC title.
