WAF vs SFU, Match 11: Who won today's match in MLC 2023?
Washington Freedom (WAF), on Saturday, July 22, made their way through to the playoffs of the ongoing Major League Cricket (MLC) 2023. They defeated Aaron Finch’s San Francisco Unicorns by 30 runs at the Church Street Park, Morrisville.
They are placed second in the table with six points and a net run rate of +0.575 thanks to wins in three out of four matches. The other team to have advance to the playoffs is Wayne Parnell’s Seattle Orcas.
After being put in to bat first against the Unicorns, the Freedom could only get themselves up to 133 for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs. Haris Rauf was the pick of the bowlers for the Unicorns after he finished with figures of 4-0-20-3.
Liam Plunkett also accounted for two scalps. Skipper Moises Henriques top-scored for Freedom with 30 runs off 27 balls.
Netravalkar powers Freedom into MLC 2023 playoffs
Defending 133 was not expected to be easy for Freedom, who eventually managed to do it with utmost ease. Saurabh Netravalkar was the star of the show after he finished with stupendous figures of 3.5-0-9-6. He breached through the defense of notable players like Marcus Stoinis and Shadab Khan.
Marco Jansen, Anrich Nortje, Akeal Hosein and Dane Piedt picked up one wicket apiece. The Freedom eventually managed to restrict the Unicorns to 103 in 19.5 overs.
TSK vs SEO, Match 11: Who won the Player of the Match in today's MLC match?
It was not a surprise that Saurabh Netravalkar earned the Player of the Match award. He got the wickets of Matthew Wade, Marcus Stoinis, Shadab Khan, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Liam Plunkett and Haris Rauf.
If not for his spell, the Freedom would have struggle to defend the low score. Netravalkar has been a key member of the USA national team for quite some time now.