WF vs LAKR | Glenn Maxwell’s blitzkrieg headlines Washington Freedom’s big win over Los Angeles Knight Riders

‌Skipper Glenn Maxwell scored a swashbuckling century to power Washington Freedom to a huge 113-run over Los Angeles Knight Riders in Major League Cricket 2025 on Wednesday. The Aussie all-rounder smashed 13 sixes and two fours during his unbeaten knock of 106 off just 49 balls in Oakland as his side romped to their second consecutive win this season taking them to third in the points table.

Opting to bat first, Washington got off to a brisk start with Mitchell Oven’s cameo of 32 from 11 balls taking the side to 45 at the end of just the third over. However, Oven’s dismissal triggered a collapse as they slid from 45/1 to 68/4 with the skipper walking into the middle in the eighth over.

Maxwell started cautiously moving to 11 off 15 balls as Washington lost one more wicket with the score reading 98/5 with seven overs remaining. The LAKR bowlers looked to continue their good work and restrict the batting side to under 150 but Maxwell had other plans. He signalled his intentions with three consecutive sixes of leg-spinner and countryman Tanveer Sangha’s final over. 

Maxwell then shifted gears to hit two sixes off pacer Corne Dry before charging at Sunil Narine with three more maximums in his final over, the first of which brought his fifty in 29 balls. The West Indies pacer who conceded only nine runs in his first three overs could not control Maxwell’s mayhem and ended up conceding 19 in his last over.

Two sixes off Shadley van Schalkwyk in the 18th over took him to 10 hits over the fence with his first four of the innings coming when the batter was on 78. With a cumulative 26 runs coming in overs 18 and 19, Washington was only 18 runs short of 200 with an over to spare. Maxwell tore into Jason Holder’s last over hitting two maximums off the first two balls and then moved to his hundred with a single of the next, the second fifty coming in only 19 balls. He ended the innings with another six as 26 runs came in Holder’s over with the side reaching 208/5. Dry and Sangha ended with spells of 2/33 and 2/38, respectively, for LAKR.

With the huge target to get, LAKR were never in the game as left-arm pacer Saurabh Netravalkar sent back dangerman Alex Hales in the first over. Fellow opener Sunil Narine and former India U19 captain Unmukt Chand also departed soon as the top three were back in the hut without scoring a run. From 10/3, LAKR slid further to 26/5 before a sixth-wicket partnership of 35 between Saif Badar and Jason Holder saw the side go past the 50-run mark to reach 61/5 at the halfway mark. With Saif departing in the next over for a 31-ball 32, the writing was on the wall for LAKR as their innings ended at 95 with more than three overs to spare. The medium-pace duo of Jack Edwards and Oven were the pick among the Washington bowlers with impressive figures of 3/15 and 3/18, respectively, while Netravalkar ended with two wickets.