Gous and Owen lead Washington to record MLS chase as they overcome Texas Super Kings’ score of 220 with 2 balls to spare.
Owen and Gous scored 89 and 80 not out as Freedom chased down TSK’s 220 for 6 with two balls remaining.
With seven wickets and two balls remaining, the Washington Freedom defeated the Texas Super Kings 220 for 6 in the most successful chase in MLC history. Earlier this week, MI New York defeated the Seattle Orcas to break the previous record of 201.
The main architects of Freedom’s victory were Mitchell Owen (89 off 52) and Andries Gous (80 not out off 45), making sure that TSK captain Faf du Plessis’ 69 off 31 was in vain.
Du Plessis provided his team a strong start after TSK was sent in, smashing two sixes and four fours in the first four overs.
When Owen arrived at the fifth over, he hit six, six, four off his first three balls. Patel was removed by Owen on the very next delivery, but there was little time for rest as du Plessis hit a boundary to end the over.
Du Plessis became Owen’s second victim after reaching his half-century off just 20 balls. After that, Marcus Stoinis and Milind Kumar took control, adding 42 runs for the fourth wicket in just 26 balls. TSK amassed 56 runs from the final four overs after Shubham Ranjane put the finishing touches on with an undefeated 26 from ten balls.
Freedom got off to a solid start with 38 in 4.3 overs thanks to Owen and Rachin Ravindra. Then, after ten overs, Owen and Gous led the team to 96 for 1. TSK was still the favourite with 125 to go, but in the 12th and 13th overs, Owen and Gous changed the tide of the match by dismissing Noor Ahmad for 22 and Donovan Ferreira for 24. Owen and Gous reduced the equation to 69 required from seven overs with a combined total of five sixes and three fours in those 12 balls.
At the beginning of the fifteenth over, Owen was bowled out by Adam Milne, but Gous continued. TSK was still in the game with two overs remaining and 20 needed. On the opening ball of the 19th, Maxwell struck Milne for a six, but two balls later, the seamer sent Maxwell back. Before Glenn Phillips’ six cut the requirement to five from the last over, it was down to 11 needed from seven balls.
Before Phillips hit the next ball past backward point to complete the victory, Stoinis let up three singles off the first three balls of the last over.