Maxwell's century for Freedom consigns LAKR to heavy defeat
His unbeaten 106 rescued Freedom from 68 for 4 to an imposing 208 for 5
ESPNcricinfo staff
18-Jun-2025 • 12 hrs ago
Glenn Maxwell's eighth T20 century powered Washington Freedom to 208 • MLC
Washington Freedom 208 for 5 (Maxwell 106*, Owen 32, Dry 2-33, Sangha 2-38) beat Los Angeles Knight Riders 95 (Badar 32, Edwards 3-15, Owen 3-18) by 113 runs
Glenn Maxwell smashed an unbeaten 49-ball 106 to set up Washington Freedom's comfortable 113-run win over Los Angeles Knight Riders. His innings from No. 6 helped Freedom post 208 for 5, after which their bowlers skittled LAKR for only 95.
With a second win in three outings, Freedom are third on the MLC 2025 points table. LAKR are fifth with three defeats in three games, with only net run rate keeping them away from last spot.
Maxwell walked in at 68 for 4 after Freedom opted to bat and pumped 13 sixes and two fours to score his eighth T20 century. It gave momentum to the Freedom innings with Mark Chapman (17 off 21) and Obus Pienaar (14* off 15) playing second-fiddle to the seventh T20 century in the tournament's short history. Freedom scored 124 in the final ten on the back of Maxwell's six-hitting.
Freedom opener Mitchell Owen, who scored an 11-ball 32, produced a three-wicket haul in the chase to wreck LAKR's middle order, which only compounded their woes after they lost their top three of Alex Hales, Sunil Narine and Unmukt Chand all for ducks. It was only the fourth time in franchise T20 history for the openers and the No. 3 to all be out without scoring.
Middle-order batter Saif Badar scored 32 and captain Jason Holder scored 23, but they couldn't bring the margin of defeat to under 100. Jack Edwards - who dismissed Chand, Rovman Powell and Holder - collected a three-for too, while Saurabh Netravalkar took the first and last LAKR wickets to finish the game in the 17th over.