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LA Knight Riders bow out of MLC 2023 after losing to Washington Freedom (Source: Twitter)
LA Knight Riders have now faced their fourth consecutive defeat in the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2023, this time at the hands of the Washington Freedom. With just one more league-stage game remaining, the latest loss confirms that LAKR cannot qualify for the playoffs. On the other hand, WTF moved up to third place in the standings and continues to be in contention for the playoff berths with two games in hand.
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Freedom won the toss and elected to field first. They restricted the Knight Riders to 175/7 in 20 overs. Andre Russell top-scored with a brilliant knock of 70 off just 37 balls which included six fours and the same number of maximums. A handy 41 off 30 balls from Rilee Rossouw helped the team total beyond the 170-mark.
Andre Russell won the Man of the Match for his 70 off 37 despite LAKRโs loss
Skipper Moises Henriques remained the pick of the bowlers for Washington as he returned with figures of 3/26 in three overs. Marco Jensen followed him closely with 2/29 in four overs. Akeal Hosein and Saurabh Netravalkar scalped one wicket each.
In reply, Washington chased the total with 11 deliveries to spare. Opener Matthew Short and Andries Gous played expertly for their 43 off 35 and 40 off 15, respectively. Both were unlucky to miss out on deserved half-centuries. Skipper Moises Henriques (16* off 12) and Obus Pienaar (26* off 17) finished the remainder of the job after Mukhtar Ahmed (15 off 11) and Glenn Phillips (29 off 19) were unable to convert their starts.
There was nothing much special about the bowling display by the LA Knight Riders. Corne Dry stayed wicketless while every other bowler โ Spencer Johnson, Ali Khan, Adam Zampa, and Sunil Narine returned with one wicket each. Despite LA Knight Rider's defeat, Andre Russell was adjudged the 'Man of the Match' for his exceptional knock of 70 off just 37 deliveries.
Only the final round of league games are remaining in the MLC 2023 following which, the Playoffs will commence on Friday, July 28. The final will be played on Monday, July 31 at Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas.
Here's how fans reacted:
Out of tournament @arya4789
โ LOKESH ๐ฎ๐ณ (@imnath_lokesh) July 21, 2023
๐ keep the faith LAKR๐๐๐
โ spring t marler๐บ๐ธ (@springtmarler) July 21, 2023
Remove Narine as captain!
โ Tyrelle Josiah Audain ๐น๐น๐ (@tjaudain) July 21, 2023
Can you make it 5 Ls out of 5?
โ Swarnadeep (@swarnadc) July 21, 2023
โ Sriram RJ (@RjSriram15) July 21, 2023
Unfortunate. However, I'm still watching and cheering for the Knight Riders. Keep plugging away, boys!
โ Annie S. (@newmexicanannie) July 21, 2023
All knight rider frenchies change bolwing coach #removebolwingcoach
โ Akash Bakshi (@AkashBa21540797) July 21, 2023
Again ๐ pic.twitter.com/NSMhqDzIyH
โ Gibbs A Proud St. Louis Blues fan๐จ๐ฆ (@ash_gibbsblues) July 21, 2023