Washington Freedom held their nerve in the last few overs to beat San Francisco Unicorns

San Francisco Unicorns captain Matt Short drives a delivery down the ground during the match between The San Francisco Unicorns and the Washington Freedom at the Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California, United States of America (USA). (Photo/sportzpics)

Washington Freedom held their nerve in the last few overs to beat San Francisco Unicorns by seven runs in Eliminator 2 of Major League Cricket (MLC) on Friday, setting up a final against LA Knight Riders on Sunday (IST). Defending 238, Freedom looked under pressure when San Francisco captain Matthew Short produced an unbeaten 121 off 56 balls, but Saurabh Netravalkar and Mitchell Owen closed out the game with disciplined final overs to deny the Unicorns a place in the title clash. Mitchell Owen struck 42 off 19 balls, while captain Steven Smith added 43 off 20 as the opening pair powered the side to 83/1 in the Powerplay. Andries Gous then anchored the innings with 73 off 40 deliveries, hitting eight fours and three sixes. Netravalkar delivered a crucial 19th over, conceding just seven runs and leaving San Francisco needing 22 from the final over. Owen, who had leaked 28 runs in his first over earlier in the innings, bounced back when it mattered most. He gave away only 14 runs in the last over to seal a seven-run victory and send Freedom into the final.

It was another painful exit for the Unicorns, who had also lost by a narrow margin in the Qualifier despite finishing at the top of the league table. Freedom, however, turned the game in the closing stages. Their second chance at reaching the final slipped away as Freedom completed successful defence of their total to book a meeting with LA Knight Riders in the championship match.