Dwayne Bravo picked up a wicket and smashed a scintillating 76 off 39 balls but his all-round heroics were not enough for Texas Super Kings (TSK) as Washington Freedom (WAF) registered their first win in the Major League Cricket (MLC) tournament at the Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas on Sunday evening.
Chasing 164 for the second successive win, TSK were off to a poor start as their last match’s hero Devon Conway departed for a golden duck on the fifth delivery of the very first over. The Faf Du Plessis’ led side lost its 5 wickets for just 50 runs inside 9 overs. But, Bravo, who has an experience of playing more than 500 T20 matches, decided to put on a show for the Texas fans after coming at No.7.
Bravo smacked five fours and six sixes in his stroke-filled 76 and single-handedly resurrected Super Kings’ hopes of chasing the set target.
In the 18th over, Bravo took on WAF pacer Anrich Nortje, scoring 17 runs. Then, in the following over bowled by Marco Jansen, Bravo added 12 more runs, leaving the Super Kings with a requirement of 27 runs off the final six balls. Bravo’s six off the second ball of the last over kept the Freedom team on their toes. However, when the equation came down to 17 runs required off 3 balls, Nortje bowled a dot ball. Bravo managed to hit a four and a six on the last two balls, but that was not enough to take TSK home. Eventually, the Super Kings lost the contest by six runs.
Earlier, opening batter Matthew Short played a superb knock for the Washington side, scoring 80 runs off 50 balls. Although other batters fell quickly, they managed to form brief partnerships with Short, helping to push the innings forward. Bravo showcased his bowling skills at the death, conceding only 28 runs for the Super Kings. With Freedom finishing at 163/5, it proved to be enough to gain two points from the match.
Washington Freedom opens their account in the point table: https://t.co/pOjIXtN24k#TSKvWAF #MLC2023 #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/WZwEbnjv0K
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) July 17, 2023
