This year’s competition has seen Washington Freedom, the table-toppers, look unbeatable. Their flawless campaign thus far has been marred only by a single setback, coming after they had already guaranteed a top two finish. To them, a trophy would be a just reward for their current campaign. With strong backing from Travis Head, Rachin Ravindra, Lockie Ferguson, and Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith has taken the lead on all fronts.
Andries Gous and Saurabh Netravalkar, the latter of whom is atop the charts for most wickets taken, are two examples of the homegrown talent that has excelled for Freedom. Form enters the picture, and if all goes according to plan, the Freedom are the early favourites. Since they had defeated them just two days prior, they would also have the psychological upper hand over their rivals.
From being wooden spooners in 2023 to maybe lifting the cup in 2024, the San Francisco Unicorns have undergone a transformation. They had to defeat the Texas Super Kings in the Challenger to make it to the final, which meant going the difficult way.
They must get better at fielding, since they dropped five catches in their previous game, and get weary of losing wickets in bunches as they did in the qualifier. In order to get off to a fast start, they would rely on Finn Allen and Jake Fraser-McGurk, and their youthful players, Sanjay Krishnmaurthi and the always excellent Hassan Khan, would try to finish the campaign well.
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The Unicorns have had a fair amount of consistency in their bowling. Even with their season-long injury problems, they have been able to recover the scoring rate in middle-overs games by consistently taking wickets and stifling the offence. Throughout the competition, the Unicorns have produced match-winning periods thanks to the efforts of Pat Cummins, Haris Rauf, Hassan Khan, and Juanoy Drysdale.
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