The Texas Super Kings easily defeated the Washington Freedom in a rain-shortened five-overs-a-side match on Wednesday night in Lauderhill, adding another get to the competition for the top two positions in MLC 2025.
TSK moved up to No. 2 on the points standings with the 43-run victory, while Freedom fell to third place after eight games each. Together, they have 12 points, however the San Francisco Unicorns lead due to their superior net run-rate.
Freedom won the toss and chose to field, and it looked to be the perfect decision when Daryl Mitchell (6) retired out and Marcus Stoinis (2) fell cheaply.
However, TSK reached 87 in five overs thanks to an unbroken third-wicket stand in which No. 3 Shubham Ranjane and No. 4 Donovan Ferreira hammered 53 runs in only 12 balls. Ferreira stroked a nine-ball 37 and Ranjane top-scored with 39 in 14 balls.
Nandre Burger destroyed the Freedom top order, which was full of powerful internationals, early on by bowling Glenn Maxwell (0) and Rachin Ravindra (10) off the final two balls of the first over.
Then, in the second over, Mitchell Owen was removed by Akeal Hosein. Despite Glenn Phillips’ contribution of 18 runs in 11 balls and his final perfect status, Freedom failed to locate enough boundaries to turn the chase into a battle.
Texas Super Kings hit four fours and eight sixes overall, while Freedom struck three fours and three sixes. The boundaries of TSK were all drawn by Ferreira and Ranjane.
