MLC 2023 Points Table: Updated standings after Los Angeles Knight Riders vs Washington Freedom contest, Match 9

The 9th match of the 2023 MLC featured Los Angeles Knight Riders and Washington Freedom and took place on July 21. The game got underway at 3 AM IST. This time around though, the game was played at a different venue - Morrisville at Church Street Park.

Washington Freedom have now attained two back-to-back wins and seem to be heading on the right track. Meanwhile, for the Los Angeles Knight Riders, the sorrow continues as they slipped to their fourth consecutive defeat, which ultimately led to their elimination.

Earlier, Washington Freedom won the toss and invited the Knight Riders to bat first. Despite a weak start, the heroics of Rilee Rossouw (41 off 30) and Andre Russell (70 off 37) helped them reach a respectable total of 175 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs.

In the chase, Matthew Short (43 off 35) and Andries Gouss (40 off 15) gave a flying start to Washington and set the tone. Though Gous was dismissed in the sixth over, Short kept himself composed and took his team closer to victory.

Short's composure was aided by cameos from Glenn Phillips (29 off 19) and Pienaar (26 off 17). In the end, Washington reached the target with 11 balls to spare and with six wickets in hand.

Following this fixture, Washington surged to the third spot in the points table and improved their NRR to 0.276. The team only trails behind Texas Super Kings and Seattle Orcas, who are the first and second-ranked teams, respectively.

Los Angeles have been knocked out of the inaugural MLC season and will continue to remain at the bottom of the points table with 4 losses in 4 games.

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Los Angeles Knight Riders lose to Washington Freedom for their fourth consecutive defeat

After being asked to bat first, Los Angeles did not get the start they had hoped for. There was assistance for the bowlers with the new ball and the openers found it hard to get boundaries.

Within the first seven overs, LAKR were 37/2. After this, they lost a couple of more wickets and were reeling at 68/4 when Russell walked in.

He got together with Rilee Rossouw and formed a partnership of 86 runs. Even though Rossouw (41 off 30) could not stay till the end, Russell continued his onslaught. He stayed unbeaten at 70 off 37 and helped LA Knight Riders reach a total of 175 runs in 20 overs for the loss of seven wickets.

Moises Henriques and Marco Jansen were the pick of the bowlers for Washington as they returned combined figures of 5/55 in 7 overs. The duo provided the early breakthroughs and pushed the Knight Riders against the wall. The rest of the bowling unit was dispatched for plenty.

Chasing a big target, Washington needed a strong start and Matthew Short and Andries Gous provided just that. The first two overs went for 35 runs, and that set the tone. The runs kept coming easily with the fielding restrictions in play as both batters went on the aggressive, scoring a whopping 74 runs in the powerplay.

Gous miscued one to mid-wicket and new batter Mukhtar Ahmed also fell cheaply. The scoring rate did dip post the powerplay, but the damage was already done.

The second wicket also brought Glenn Phillips to the crease, who played aggressively for his cameo of 29 runs. Two quick wickets by the spinners rattled Washington for a moment, but skipper Moises Henriques, with his experience, helped them get over the line with 11 balls to spare.

The bowlers once again let down LAKR despite having a strong total of 175 runs on the board. Barring Sunil Narine, who went for just 5 RPO, the rest of the bowlers conceded in excess of 9 RPO as their wickets column ran virtually dry.

Zampa and Narine tried to curb the scoring rate, but expensive spells from Ali Khan and Spencer Johnson allowed the game to drift away from the Knight Riders’ grasp.