Mitchell Owen's Five-Wicket Haul Dents Unicorns' Perfect Run as Freedom Prevail in MLC 2025 Clash

Washington Freedom Stuns San Francisco Unicorns, Ending Their Winning Run in MLC 2025

The San Francisco Unicorns suffered their first defeat of MLC 2025 against a determined Washington Freedom side. Despite the loss, the Unicorns remain atop the league standings due to their superior net run rate. Mitchell Owen's remarkable five-wicket performance propelled Washington Freedom to a 12-run victory in Dallas on Saturday.

Matthew Short, the Unicorns' captain, continued his impressive form, leading the chase of a 170-run target. However, he received limited support from Finn Allen and Jake Fraser-McGurk initially, though the Unicorns managed to score 52 for 1 during the powerplay.

Short later found some stability with Sanjay Krishnamurthi. But after Short's dismissal in the 11th over, scoring a significant 67 out of the team's 97, the chase began to falter. The Unicorns' middle order, seemingly in control needing just 73 runs, soon faced an unexpected collapse.

Mitchell Owen then seized control with his bowling. He dismissed Short in his opening over and quickly followed up by taking the wickets of Hassan Khan and Romario Shepherd in successive deliveries. Supported by wickets from Jack Edwards and Ian Holland, the Unicorns dramatically fell to 113 for 7 by the 16th over.

Owen returned in the 19th over, cleaning up the tailenders Haris Rauf and Brody Couch. He concluded his spell with outstanding figures of 5 for 17, sealing the victory for his team.

Despite a valiant effort from Jahmar Hamilton, who scored an unbeaten 31 off 18 balls, Washington Freedom's Saurabh Netravalkar held his composure, conceding only 14 runs in the final over to secure the win.

Earlier in the match, Washington Freedom struggled at the start, finding themselves at 13 for 3 within the first three overs. Xavier Bartlett's fierce opening spell accounted for the wickets of Owen, Rachin Ravindra, and Andries Gous.

Glenn Maxwell's quick dismissal further compounded the Freedom's problems, but Jack Edwards and Glenn Phillips provided much-needed stability with a 71-run partnership off 64 balls. Phillips then accelerated the scoring during a rapid 31-run partnership with Obus Pienaar. After Phillips was out for a well-played 58 from 39 balls, Pienaar finished the innings strongly with an unbeaten 37 off 16 balls, alongside Mukhtar Ahmed.

Both Washington Freedom and San Francisco Unicorns now have six wins from their seven matches. The Unicorns, however, maintain a significant advantage with a net run rate of 2.016, compared to Washington's 0.603.

Brief Scores:

Washington Freedom: 169/6 in 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 58, Jack Edwards 42, Obus Pienaar 30*; Xavier Bartlett 32/4, Romario Shepherd 28/1)

San Francisco Unicorns: 157/9 in 20 overs (Matthew Short 67, Jahmar Hamilton 31*, Sanjay Krishnamurthi 24; Mitchell Owen 17/5, Ian Holland 23/1, Amila Aponso 23/1)