Brevis, Boult star as MINY eliminate Washington Freedom

Led by Dewald Brevis's 41-ball 57 and Trent Boult's 4-fer, MI New York eliminated Washington Freedom from MLC 20223. Put in to bat, MI New York posted 141 for 7 at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas before limiting Washington Freedom to 125 for 9 to make a passage to Challenger.

Marco Jansen, Justin Dill and Saurabh Netravalkar made a tight start with the ball, not allowing the MINY top order batters to get going freely. In the third over, Monank Patel was run out after being sent back by his partner, while Nicholas Pooran was cleaned up by Netravalkar soon after the powerplay, ending the captain's struggled stay in which he managed to score only a solitary run in 10 balls.

Shayan Jahangir, who looked as uncomfortable at the start, had broken free in the last over of the powerplay, cracking three boundaries off Anrich Nortje. But that remained an oddity as MI New York could only manage 39 runs in the first nine overs. Jahangir's effort to try too hard backfired as Akeal Hosein had him trapped legbefore when he missed his reverse sweep.

From thereon, it was a one-man show as Brevis took over. He carted Moises Henriques for a six over the mid wicket fence and went over extra cover to back it up with a boundary. Two overs later, he muscled a six down the ground off Hosein and then stepped out to find a four. He then lofted a full delivery by Nortje over extra cover and muscled a pull off a short delivery by the pacer for a six. Tim David too joined him and muscled a couple of sixes, including one that left the premises of the stadium as the duo set the base for the team's competitive total before getting dismissed.

Washington Freedom, on the other hand, made a steady start to the run chase despite losing Matthew Short early. Andries Gous and Mukhtar Ahmed chugged along at around run-a-ball en route their 34-run stand for the second wicket. Even as Gous fell in the 8th over, Mukhtar and Glenn Phillips ensured a smooth passage for Freedom till the half-way mark. However, the former's run out while attempting a quick single, courtesy a fine throw from backward point by Kenjige, triggered a collapse.

Henriques chopped on a delivery by David Wiese back on to his stumps later in the over, Kenjige had Obus Pienaar trapped legbefore in the next. Phillips and Hosein attempted to resurrect the chase but the latter was undone by Boult's slower delivery. While attempting a big heave, he mistimed the shot to long off. A couple of sixes and a boundary by Marco Jansen infused some life in the chase, but Boult nipped that threat in the bud in the penultimate over. He dismissed Hosein and Jansen, conceded only three runs in the over, and left Freedom needing 22 in the last over. The total was way beyond the reach of their lower order as they eventually fell 16 runs short.

Brief Scores: MI New York 141/7 in 20 overs (Dewald Brevis 57, Shayan Jahangir 25; Saurabh Netravalkar 2-25) beat Washington Freedom 125/9 in 20 overs (Marco Jansen 28, Andries Gous 24; Trent Boult 4-20, Nosthush Kenjige 2-19) by 16 runs