Texas vs Washington, 23rd Match at Lauderhill, MLC, Jul 02 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary

That concludes our coverage of MLC action for today. Thank you for tuning in. Be sure to join us again tomorrow for more MLC matches. Until then, this is Rashad Mahbub signing off on behalf of Chandan Duorah and the rest of the ESPNcricinfo crew. Goodnight and goodbye.

Marcus Stoinis: "It's good for our result. The boys did really well. Don [Donovan] said it a lot. Akeal bowled brilliantly. So, I can't complain. [Bat first or second in short games] I think always in a short game, you want to chase and see what you're chasing. But when you make that many runs, it obviously puts a lot of pressure on the other team. And then once we used Akeal and saw that it was spinning and holding a little bit, that made it pretty easy for the rest of the innings to know who to bowl, at least. [Tactical retirement] I think it's going to be used more and more. I think today was an extenuating circumstance. I mean, in only a five-over game, Darryl hardly faced a ball; he got caught up on the striker's end, and it was more about the fact that we had Don that we were saving from the first two overs and wanted to send him in for the last three overs that we thought was a good chance of happening anyway. It just so happened that it was Daryl who had to come off and make way. But I wouldn't read too much into it from that point of view. But it is something that's coming to the game a bit more. [Bowling spinners] We were always planning on bowling Akeal, at least one in those first two [overs]. And then it was going to be a judgement from there and how the wicket played. Obviously, he bowled a brilliant over. And then it seemed quite clear that we could use our spinners through there. Very important points. I don't know where it puts us; maybe second on the ladder now. So although it was a five-over game, it was important, and we took the points, and we're obviously happy."

Most Valuable Player, Donovan Ferreira: "Feeling good. [Live for hitting sixes] Yeah, I lost to Flem [Fleming] on the golf course. I needed to make some money back, so I needed the performance in to get the award today. So I'm glad I did it for the team, especially in such a close game. We needed to get a high score because they have explosive batters. [Retirement discussion of Mitchell] Flem obviously said, Be ready. We're going to take Mitch [Mitchell] out. So obviously it's never nice taking a player out. But hopefully he understands it's for the better of the team. And luckily for us, tonight, it paid off. And I think it's just one of those nights. It really came off. We did a lot of analysis in terms of their bowlers, hitting the deck hard. I watched the game last night. They were just hitting the deck. So we knew they were going to start over there, and then they were going to go fuller if they had been under pressure. [Bigger six] Well, I don't know if that's 106 six metres; it looked way further than that, but the one at the Wanderers is on the roof and was quite big as well in SA20, so I don't know. I need to get a rangefinder and get the real distance."

Glenn Maxwell: "[Not bowling any spinners] Well, if we were able to change our team, we might have put one in there. I think they probably had two quality high-class spinners, and we had two all-rounders, so we were trying to go with what worked. and the first three overs went to plan. they bowled really nicely, and I thought it was the right decision to bowl those two guys the next two overs. They obviously had the score on the board. It was always going to be a tough ask, and you need a lot to go right. When you're chasing a score like that, and unfortunately, we just weren't able to get any sort of momentum throughout the innings. As I said, two quality spinners on a wicket that's obviously going to turn, and unfortunately, we didn't really have that available to us."

11:05 pm What a performance by the Texas Super Kings, who earned an emphatic victory and moved up to second place in the standings! The Washington Freedom's run chase collapsed early, losing two quick wickets in the first over and immediately feeling the pressure. Akeal then removed the dangerous Mitch Owen in the very next over, a moment that truly put the game out of their reach. The Super Kings' spin pair, Noor and Akeal, were simply brilliant, bowling with incredible discipline and not allowing the Freedom batters to go big. Burger picked up a couple of wickets, with Akeal and Noor each taking one.

Texas Super Kings won by 43 runs

Obus Pienaar in

Noor to bowl the last over

Akeal to bowl out

He is okay to continue now after a brief treatment. All good to go.

Noor Ahmad comes in to bowl

Gous in