WF vs SFU

Off goes Steve Smith and lifts the MLC 2024 trophy with the confetti flying in the air and the board behind them reading CHAMPIONS in bold words. They now pose ahead of a board reading the same 9-letter word. What a tournament it has been for them, only a single loss throughout the 9 games they played over the past month. This brings the curtains down on what has been a terrific season of Major League Cricket, with the future of cricket in the USA looking even more exciting!

Steve Smith (Player of the match and captain, Washington Freedom): Nice to contribute. Have had a great tournament. We have had a great bunch and played good, high cricket when we were out there. We had a talk about not being overawed and the guys did a great job. It has been a fun season. Some guys don't get a game and it is challenging and could be hard. Everyone has had each other's back through. Everyone stood up during the tournament. The top order, especially Head, was the MVP and the bowlers were outstanding and stood up whenever pressure was high.

Travis Head is the Player of the Tournament. He has scored 336 runs across 9 innings and here is what he has to say: I have been on the road for quite a while now, and it has been great to keep the form going. I have learned to be myself and enjoy what I do. Enjoyed the off time, played a lot of time and showed it on the field. The times he missed out, I ensured to stay in the middle and get some runs. Always fun opening with a known face

Hassan Khan wins the Bart King Award for the Domestic Player of the Tournament. 204 runs with the bat at an SR 144 and 10 wickets at an economy of 7.09. Here is what he has to say: Great tournament for me, happy to contribute to the team. I was fortunate enough to play some shots early on and got to bat till the end. It is a natural strength. I was a bowling all-rounder early on but thanks to Watto he trusted in my batting abilities, pushing me up the order. I learned a lot from Cummins and other members. Will utilise it in the future

Corey Anderson (San Francisco Unicorns captain): Look it's extremely disappointing. I think we were well off the mark. Washington just outplayed us in every department possible. Yeah look I think it's tough. When you try and focus on one or two guys it's hard to stop them when they are going great guns. Our plans were fine but we didn't execute that. Look we were still confident at the halfway stage. When you are chasing such totals, one or two guys have to put their hands up. The boys have been fantastic and the two best teams played in the final. Disappointed with the performance but really proud of the boys. Look we had just some more guys put their hands up. The best players in the world will turn up. The competition is on the way up.

Andries Gous: It has been awesome, you dream of these moments and it has been great to be a part of this team. It is an amazing thing MLC does for us and it has been an unbelievable moment. Every time we have played, the crowds have been amazing. Everyone wants to come to US now and hopefully it brings more international teams to the US and boosts the quality of domestic cricket.

Akeal Hosein: I think it was a total team effort this effort. We have three top guys in each category. It was definitely fun to gel together with some of the best in the world. Changing room was excellent. I think MLC is in the right direction.

Jasdeep Singh: Experience has been great. You can't ask for a better finish. I was happy to contribute in those two games. Very happy for Ricky and the management. I have got two in two. It's the hard work and preparation which everybody puts behind that. Yeah look it boosts your confidence. I have learnt a lot in the last few weeks and hopefully I can replicate my performance.

Ricky Ponting (head coach, Washington Freedom): We have got a great bunch of people, there is a great feeling around the group. They talk cricket and I thought we needed a team that was well built and we have that team, rightly being crowned as the champions. They have shown it on the field. It has been a great month, every game has been outstanding and we can judge the tournament by the calibre of the playing members

Rachin Ravindra: It is a pretty good group to be a part of. They not only carried it on the field by off the field as well. Being able to contribute with the ball in hand was a great feeling. We gelled well off the field, and spent a lot of time together and all credit to the boys at the top who set the environment for us

Saurabh Netravalkar: I am really grateful for the platform. We don't often get enough opportunities to rub shoulders with some of the best in the game. It's a great feeling winning the tournament.  This could be the backbone of our domestic cricket.

Andre Tye: We had a fantastic set up and Saurabh led from the front. It has been a great tournament for us. He had the first-hand knowledge about the conditions and he helped us do the basics right.

Washington Freedom beat San Francisco by 96 runs and ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF MLC 2024

San Francisco Unicorns: 111 all out after 16 overs
Josh Inglis: 18(11b) | Hassan Khan: 13(6b)
Marco Jansen: 3/28 (4 overs) | Rachin Ravindra: 3/23 (4 overs)

6 wins in the league stages, a solitary loss and thumping wins in the knockouts! Washington Freedom have been the team that has rode their form and has ensured they breeze past teams to have their hand on this glittering trophy, a dream which now become a realisation for Steve Smith and his men. Congratulations to the Washington Freedom on their maiden championship and commiserations to San Francisco Unicorns, who have been a really good side in this competition.

San Francisco Unicorns had things going from bad to worse for them in their batting essay. They lost Jake Fraser McGurk cheaply before Sanjay Krishnamurthi was caught off the bowling of Netravalkar. Finn Allen lost his wicket to Jansen as he chopped one back onto his stumps and within no time, the Unicorns found themselves three wickets down. 

Josh Inglis, Sherfane Rutherford, and Corey Anderson were like passengers as they were dismissed cheaply. Cummins hit a few big hits but that was all that he could manage as the Unicorns had lost 4 wickets for 40 runs between overs 5-10. Hassan Khan did his best to delay the inevitable but was dismissed soon as the bowlers folded and the Unicorns were dismissed for 111.

Washington Freedom's dominant display with the ball continued as they managed to once again bundle out their opposition comprehensively. Marco Jansen struck early with the new ball and ended his spell with 3 wicket. Rachin Ravindra finished with three to his name, with the spinner closing out the proceedings and picking up the last wicket. Andrew Tye picked up a couple of wickets while Netravalkar and Glenn Maxwell returned with a wicket each. Their ground fielding was on point as they put in dives to save runs and also stop boundaries.

15.6 Rachin Ravindra to Juanoy Drysdale, WICKET! That's game set and match and the Washington Freedom wins the second edition of MLC by 96 runs. Flatter and quicker on a good-length pitching around middle and turns past Drysdale on the attempted defence and rattles the off-stump. 

15.5 Rachin Ravindra to Juanoy Drysdale, tossed up delivery a shade outside off, Drysdale goes for the swing across the line, gets beaten and just about made his crease.