So the duo of Steve Smith and Ricky Ponting bag the trophy in their first season in the MLC. And they have done it in the most Australian fashion – with brutal dominance and a fist of authority, reserving their best for the final. That ends another successful season in the MLC – a season that attracted some much bigger names in global cricket, a season that helped unearth splendid local talents and a season that sizeably increased footfall to the stadiums. Lot of promise for cricket in the USA for the future, and the MLC is just their starting point. That’s all for now, time to move over to cricket coverage from a different part of the world…
And now Steve Smith collects the trophy along with the rest of his team. Happy faces all around, this could be a big moment for the local players like Jasdeep Singh and Justin Dil, to have a prized trophy to their name while standing next to some of the best in world cricket. Now they pose for a photograph with the rest of the support staff joining in. Ricky Ponting picks a corner to the left, stays by the sides and lets the younger boys have their moment.
Steve Smith | Most Valuable Player and Washington Freedom Captain: Nice to contribute, been a really good season. We have a really good bunch, had plenty of good times off the field. We just talked about trusting the process, just playing the game and not getting overawed by the moment. Really pleased for the boys. Some guys don’t get a game but they are surely part of the squad, and we try to make them feel included. Everyone in this group has been outstanding. Everyone stood up at different times, our batting was pretty strong and Marco maybe didn’t get to bat throughout the tournament. On the batting front, Travis was spectacular and he rightly won Player of the Tournament. With our bowling, I thought Netravalkar was outstanding and Lockie who missed today due to injury was outstanding as well. Everyone stood up for us.
Travis Head | Most Valuable Player of the Tournament: Nice to be on a roll, nice to keep form going. (His mantra to success) It is pretty simple – a few afternoon naps and chilling out, save the legs till I possibly can. It is a challenging thing coming into a new group, but what I have learnt is to just be myself, enjoy the off time and that bonding then shows on the field. (On Steve Smith) We went pretty well throughout the tournament, always important to have an opening partnership for the way we play.
Faf du Plessis wins the award for the leading run-scorer.
Saurabh Netravalkar wins the award for the leading wicket-taker.
Hassan Khan | Domestic Player of the Tournament: It has been a wonderful tournament, happy to continue for the team. I was fortunate that I got time to play long, to get set and then play some shots as well. I guess the strength comes naturally. I was a bowling allrounder earlier but thanks to Watto and the others who trusted me with my batting. They are greats of the game, and having Pat Cummins in the dressing room was also great. Learnt a lot from them.
Corey Anderson | San Francisco Unicorns Captain: Extremely disappointed. We had the hopes to take that trophy but were well off the mark, they played us out the park. I think it is tough when you try and focus on just two guys, they have match winners all over. It is hard to stop those guys, they are world-class. Our plans were alright, but execution was poor. I think we were confident, but when you are chasing that kind of total you need a couple of boys to put their hand up. When one wicket falls early when you are chasing that kind of score, the entire cookie crumbles. However, can’t take anything away from the boys and the way we played through the tournament. I think the two best teams played in the final. This competition is on the way up, with the domestic talent around and some of the most talented players of the world coming here to play.
Andries Gous: It’s been awesome. You dream of this moment and it’s been unbelievable to be part of this group. [on the crowd] Every time we have played they have come in, it has been awesome. Everybody wants to come to the US now and hope this brings more international teams and allows us to compete when we play international cricket.
Akeal Hosein: This year was a total team effort. If you look at the leaderboard we have at least three in each category. It was definitely fun gelling with some of the best in the world. To pick the brains of guys like Smith and Maxwell is great. [on MLC] It is headed in the right direction, in the years when it expands and plays in different cities, it will grow.
Ricky Ponting: I came in late and left all the preparation to Shaun and Cameron White. Great feeling around the group, talking and learning cricket. i said to them it will take a really good team to beat you this year. Thrilled for the guys, they worked hard and thoroughly deserve to be champions. [on Smith] He has been brilliant. The way he played, he single-handedly won us the game with the bat. The way he has interacted with the whole group is something he should be proud of. I have had a ball, it’s been a really enjoyable month. The conditions have been outstanding and I have loved it.
Saurabh Netravalkar: I’m really grateful for the platform and to be playing with such great players. It’s a nice feeling. This could be the backbone of our domestic cricket, you could see packed houses and really looking forward to playing every year.
Jasdeep Singh: Experience has been great, can’t ask for a better finish, to come in and be a champion, I’m happy to have contributed in my two matches, big congrats to Ricky and the management, happy to have made 2 out of 2. Pretty stoked and looking forward to lifting the trophy. Have learnt a lot in the last two weeks, looking forward to improving my game going forward.
Rachin Ravindra: Pretty cool group of people to play with (on being paired with Ponting, Head, Smith and Maxwell), they know how to play the big games, learnt a lot from the way they play and hopefully I’ll be able to use the knowledge to my best. I haven’t had a lot of good scores with the bat, but I bowled a lot, both in the matches and at the nets, and picked up some nuances. I am not a big golfer, but I did enjoy time off the pitch and on the pitch as well.
AJ Tye: It was a fantastic set-up and Saurabh led from the front. He had the first hand know-how about the conditions and he helped us to do the basics well.
22:54 Local Time, 03:54 GMT, 09:24 IST: Fireworks go off at the Grand Prairie Stadium as the Washington Freedom players celebrate with hugs, handshakes and beaming smiles. A completely one-sided final here as the script was set after Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell helped their team set a target of 208. Chasing that record total, the San Francisco Unicorns were never really in it, as they lost Jake Fraser-McGurk in the third over. Finn Allen, who scored a century in the qualifier, was knocked over early by Marco Jansen to leave their side at 30/3. Rutherford and Josh Inglis were out cheaply as well, ending any hopes for the Unicorns. Andrew Tye, who came in for the final, picked up two crucial wickets and then Rachin Ravindra cleaned out the tail to end with figures of 3/23. A resounding performance in the final, stick around for all the interviews…
Ravindra to Juanoy Drysdale, out Bowled!! Over now! Washington Freedom are the champions of MLC 2024. Skipper Steve Smith rushes to his bowler to give him a big, long hug. All smiles for the team in blue as they pick up a thumping win in this very one sided final. A slower length ball from Rachin Ravindra, pitches and turns to beat the outside edge and knock back the off stump. Too good for the number 11 who had no clue about it. Freedom win by 96 runs. Juanoy Drysdale b Ravindra 5(6) [4s-1]
Ravindra to Juanoy Drysdale, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!
Ravindra to Juanoy Drysdale, no run, turning away from a fuller length on off, beats the bat as Drysdale tried a big slog. An appeal for a stumping but his foot is fine
Ravindra to Carmi le Roux, 1 run, flat delivery outside off, punched down to long-off
Source link : https://www.cricbuzz.com/live-cricket-scores/95056/waf-vs-sfu-final-major-league-cricket-2024
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Publish date : 2024-07-28 22:16:55
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