MLC 2024 Final: Awards & Stats From Season After Washington Freedom Win Major League Cricket Title

Steve Smith led from the front as Washington Freedom clinched the Major League Cricket title following a thumping 96-run victory over San Francisco Unicorns in the MLC 2024 Final on Sunday (July 28) at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

After skipper Smith smashed 88 off 52 balls to power Washington Freedom to 207/5 in their allotted 20 overs, Marco Jansen and Rachin Ravindra picked three wickets each to bundle out the San Francisco Unicorns for 111 in 16 overs.

Carmi le Roux's unbeaten 20 off 19 balls was the highest score for a San Francisco batter as their top two run-getters from the season Finn Allen and Hassan Khan could only manage 13 runs each.

For Washington Freedom, Jansen (3 for 28) and Ravindra (3 for 23) were the pick of the bowlers, while rest of the bowling attack didn't disappoint either as Saurabh Netravalkar (1 for 33), Andrew Tye (2 for 12) and Glenn Maxwell (1 for 14) also chipped in with wickets.

Earlier, being put into bat, Smith and Maxwell (40 off 22 balls) shared an 83-run stand for the fourth wicket to take Washington past 150 before late unbeaten cameos from Mukhtar Ahmed (19* off 9 balls) and Obus Pienaar (13* off 9 balls) took them to the highest total of the season.

American wicketkeeper-batter Andries Gous also contributed with the bat, scoring 21 off 14 balls as the San Francisco bowling attack that included Pat Cummins couldn't stop the run-flow.

For the Unicorns, Cummins was the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets for 35 runs, but the rest of the bowling unit conceded upwards of 40 runs in their spells to concede the highest total of the MLC 2024. Here is a look at the award winners and stats from the final and the tournament:

MLC 2024 Awards

Champions: Washington Freedom
Runners Up: San Francisco Unicorns
Power Hitter: Mukhtar Ahmed (Washington Freedom) - USD1000
Play of the Day: Josh Inglis (San Francisco Unicorns) - USD1000
MVP Award for Final: Steve Smith (Washington Freedom)
Domestic Player of the Tournament: Hassan Khan (San Francisco Unicorns)
Leading Wicket-Taker Award: Saurabh Netravalkar (Washington Freedom)
Leading Run-Scorer Award: Faf Du Plessis (Texas Super Kings)
MVP of MLC 2024: Travis Head (Washington Freedom)

MLC 2024 Stats & Records

Highes Total: 207/5 by Washington Freedom vs San Francisco Unicorns
Lowest Total: 88 All Out by MI New York vs Washington Freedom
Most Runs: Faf Du Plessis (Texas Super Kings) - 420 runs in 8 innings
Highest Individual Score:
Most Sixes: Faf Du Plessis (Texas Super Kings) - 23 sixes in 8 innings
Most Fours: Faf Du Plessis (Texas Super Kings) - 43 fours in 8 innings
Most 50s: Travis Head (Washington Freedom) - 5 fifties in 9 innings
Most 100s: Faf Du Plessis (Texas Super Kings), Finn Allen (San Francisco Unicorns) & Ryan Rickleton (Seattle Orcas) - 1 hundred each
Highest Strike Rate (Minimum 100 Runs): Finn Allen (San Francisco Unicorns) - 187.73
Most Wickets: Saurabh Netravalkar (Washington Freedom) - 15 wickets in 7 innings
Best Bowling Figures: Rachin Ravindra (Washington Freedom) - 4 for 11 in 2.5 overs vs San Francisco Unicorns
Best Economy Rate (Minimum 20 Overs): Rashid Khan (MI New York) - 6.15