MI NY, Washington Freedom look to climb up the table

The way the third season of Major League Cricket has taken shape in the first third of the league phase, MI New York and Washington Freedom find themselves placed in a mid-table tussle. Spurts of brilliance, but not always enough to outmuscle the table-leaders.

After failing to close down two games - despite being in winning positions - MINY finally registered their first win of the season, cruising to a 101-run chase against Seattle Orcas with an over to spare, in their previous encounter. The two losses may not have looked pretty on the leaderboard, but all teams will be well mindful that they are the only team that came close to threaten San Francisco Unicorns in their high-flying, unbeaten start.

Despite only one win in the competition, the Nicholas Pooran-led side find themselves in good rhythm. While the captain himself maybe a bit short on runs, the rest of the line-up around him has shaped up well.

But quite similar is the case with Washington Freedom. After being routed by Unicorns, they have put up two thumping displays against Orcas and Los Angeles Knight Riders. The defending champions would've shrugged off that display, and with a four-day break heading into the econcounter against MINY, they'd look to make a place for themselves in the top-two, especially with their skipper Glenn Maxwell returning to form.

When: MI New York vs Washington Freedom, Sunday, June 21, 2025, 7:00 PM Local Time/5:30 AM IST (June 22)

Where: Grand Praire Stadium, Dallas

What to expect: The opening game at the venue witnessed a high-scoring encounter, and given the firepower of the two teams, it shouldn't be any different on a sunny day.

Team News:

MI New York: Having just registered a win, MI New York may not want to experiment much, even though the opportunity is available to bring Agni Chopra back in the XI.

Probable XI: Monank Patel, Quinton de Kock, Michael Bracewell, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard, Heath Richards, Tajinder Dhillon, Sunny Patel, Trent Boult, Naveen Ul Haq, Ehsan Adil

Washington Freedom: Maxwell's return to form serves as a good news for Freedom and they are unlikely to tinker with the winning combination.

Probable XI:Mitchell Owen, Rachin Ravindra, Andries Gous, Mark Chapman, Jack Edwards, Glenn Maxwell, Obus Pienaar, Ian Holland, Mark Adair, Yasir Mohammad, Saurabh Netrawalkar