That's all that we have of the first match of the double-header today between Washington Freedom and MI New York. We have 4 teams that have qualified for the play-offs - Washington Freedom, San Francisco Unicorns,Texas Super Kings & MI New York. Switch tabs to LAKR vs SU!
This is me AdityaAgarwal signing off on behalf of AjayRaghava, Pritam Dey and AshokDayma. BYE, CHEERS!
Glenn Maxwell (MVP & Washington Freedom Captain): "Yeah, it is nice to be back at the bowling crease. Missed the first 3 games because of a finger injury. It gives variety to our attack.
I don't think it changes. Our sole goal was to finish in the top two. To get down to the last game and still need to win that last game, it just shows how tight the competition has been this year. We were proud of the effort we put in tonight.
Yeah, it was just about assessing the conditions. The guys took on certain match-ups and we made sure the run-rate never got out of hand. GP and Andries did a brilliant job to get us home.
Yeah, I think we need to enjoy this moment where we finish in the top two. We have adapted to the conditions nicely. We have been pretty fluid all the way through and we hope to do the same thing when we get back to Dallas.
I am hoping so (chuckles). You never know you gets the game done, someone is sick or injured."
Most Valuable Player of the Match: Glenn Maxwell
Play of the Day: Heath Richards
Power Hitter of the Day: Mark Chapman
Time for the post-match presentation...
Nicholas Pooran (MI New York Captain): "I mean this game was really important for Washington. We knew if we bat first, we qualify. It was important to give opportunity to the younger guys. It is tough to not get opportunities in these tournament.
Coming here we won two out of three. Qualifying was our number one goal and we did that. Belief, stay positive. We move to the playoffs. It is a different challenge now."
04:13 AM IST & 06:43 PM Local Time | Washington Freedom climbs up to the top of the points table with 16 points as they beat MI New York comfortably by 6 wickets remaining in a 18-over per side game.
Earlier, MI New York won the toss and opted to bat first. Toss was delayed and hence the match was reduced to 18-overs per side.
Washington Freedom were brilliant with the ball in the hand and they restricted the MI New York to a paltry total of 112/8. Glenn Maxwell, Glenn Phillips & Rachin Ravindra bagged 6 out of the 8 wickets that fell, amongst themselves.
For MI New York, Kunwarjeet Singh Ballagan top scored with a knock of 33 runs off 30 balls.
Chasing 113, Washington Freedom lost their opener Mitchell Owen early in the second over. However, Andries Gous steadied the ship and played some counter-attacking shots.
He held one end firmly despite the wickets falling at the other end and played a match winning and an unbeaten knock of 46* runs off 34 balls and helped his side to get over the line by 6 wickets remaining.
Tristan Luus impressed with the ball in hand, he bagged 2 big wickets to his name including Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Owen.Despite the loss, MI New York has qualified for the play-offs as well. Stay tuned for the presentations!