Ugarkar leads MI New York to second MLC Title as he defends 12 off the last over against Washington Freedom.
To win their second MLC title, either the Washington Freedom or MI New York needed to score 12 runs from six balls in the final over. The ball belonged to Rushil Ugarkar, a medium pacer from the USA who is 22 years old and has never participated in international cricket.
First, Glenn Phillips, then Glenn Maxwell across from him. Two superstars in white ball. However, Ugarkar only gave up six. And when the odds were stacked against him, he won MINY the title by sending Maxwell back with a slower offcutter and letting Phillips strike for just one ball.
Freedom had the upper hand till that over began, and Phillips was mostly responsible. The asking rate was as high as 13 per over at the conclusion of the 17th over, when Phillips was 25 from 27 and Trent Boult had given up just seven runs to Phillips and Maxwell. However, in consecutive overs, Phillips targeted Boult and Tristan Luus.
It was a potentially thrilling last over when he took Luus for two sixes in the 17-run 18th over and Boult for another in the next, which went for 12. However, he only had to deal with one ball from Ugarkar, who lit up the MINY camp with a set of six cutters.
Boult began the chase by denting Freedom with two wickets in the innings’ opening over. To be fair, though, the Freedom innings didn’t appear to find the extra gear they required until Phillips got going, even though opener Rachin Ravindra scored 70 from 41 balls after early hiccups and Jack Edwards chipped in with 33 from 22.
Maxwell, who had struggled throughout the competition, with the exception of his June 17 victory over the Texas Super Kings, in which he scored 106*, was unable to move the scoreboard at the necessary pace.
Another player who had a poor run in MLC 2025, Ravindra, only reached 18 once prior to this match, when he scored 32 against the Seattle Orcas. However, he did step up for the big occasion, holding his ground as wickets fell all around him at the beginning and hitting two sixes and eight fours in his knock of 170.73 runs. The collaboration with Edwards provided Freedom with a base from which to launch and was worth 84 in 45 balls. However, the following partnership, with Phillips, took 42 balls and scored 46 runs. Where the game was lost, maybe.