Rain-soaked game, Steve Smith’s whirlwind 46* downs MI New York

When lightning and rain arrived to guarantee that there would be no more play, Steve Smith struck four fours and three sixes in his undefeated 46 off 28 balls to put Washington Freedom slightly ahead of DLS par score. Freedom defeated MI New York, the reigning champions, to begin their MLC season on the strength of being four runs ahead of the par score.

MINY was asked to bat first, but by the fifth over, they had lost two of the top three, so things weren’t looking good. Even the subsequent third-wicket stand between Nicholas Pooran and opener Ruben Clinton was short-lived as the former’s attempt to play a reverse sweep against Glenn Maxwell was thwarted by a leg stump knock. This was in the eighth over. Rashid Khan’s 15-ball 31 helped the squad reach a respectable total of 154/9, but the middle-order didn’t hang around even after Nicholas Pooran scored a vital 44 off 30.

Freedom’s reply was apprehensive at initially, as the openers could only muster three runs in the opening over before Travis Head was bowled by Ehsan Adil in the second.

As the rain was about to fall, Steve Smith led the Freedom captain in leading the chase, even though Andries Gous, one of the stars of the USA World Cup, was walking out.

He also got off to a poor start, but the Australian’s strokeplay became evident when he hit a four off Adil in the fourth over through mid-on. He took Anrich Nortje for a vicious six in the sixth over after hammering a wide delivery over cover for a six earlier in the same over. Smith began by hitting a leg-side ball over fine leg for a six, then he pulled a stroke over square leg for a four.

When Nortje lengthened and went full, he was pushed to the floor. Smith hit a second six of the 22-run over after Nortje pushed his length back once more over square leg. With two fours off Rashid Khan, Gous then chipped in to maintain his team ahead of par.

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Lightning caused the players to leave the pitch in the middle of the eighth over. The match was abandoned early when rain started to fall and didn’t stop. Washington Freedom had left the pitch on 55/1, four more than they required according to the DLS method.