Washington Freedom prevail in last-ball thriller

Andre Russell and Jason Holder lay in disbelief as Washington Freedom eked out a five-wicket win over the LA Knight Riders in a high-scoring, last-ball thriller in Dallas. With this win, Freedom edged closer to confirming their playoffs qualification and solidified their hopes of finishing in the top-two as they usurped Texas Super Kings to second spot.

The big chase came down to just seven runs needed of six balls. Though Andre Russell bowled a wide and conceded a four next to narrow down the equation to 2 off 5, he managed to take the chase till the very end.

He nailed his wide yorkers and short balls to keep the Knight Riders in the game until the very last ball. With one needed of one, Jason Holder brought all his fielders in to stop the single, but ended up dropping a catch that came his way at mid-on, that ballooned up off his hands. He couldn't hold onto it on second attempt after putting in a dive, as Glenn Phillips and Obus Pienaar took the match-winning single.

Before the drama unfolded in such a manner right at the end, the Knight Riders were boosted by Andre Fletcher's scintillating 60-ball 104 that was laced with seven fours and six sixes. The Knight Riders, chasing just their second win in six games, were vindicated by their selection decision of bringing in Fletcher for the misfiring Alex Hales. Fletcher and Unmukt Chand (41 off 30) added 130 runs for the opening wicket off just 74 deliveries to set the ball rolling towards a big total. Even after the stand was broken, the momentum didn't shift as every batter that followed - bar Rovman Powell - came out swinging.

Sherfane Rutherford hit two sixes in his 11-ball 20, Holder smashed one for his six-ball 11 while Russell tonked three on his way to an unbeaten 30 off 13.The Knight Riders picked 59 runs off the last 30 deliveries to set themselves up for the big two points. Fletcher was even retired out as a tactical move with 12 balls to spare, which Russell and Holder hit for 23 runs.

Mitchell Owen was the first to start sullying those grand plans as he hit Ali Khan for a four and two sixes in a 20-run over. He followed that up with two fours and two sixes off Holder. He took Freedom past 50 in just the fourth over, but also departed in the same - off Shadley van Schalkwyk - for a 16-ball 43. The damage he did allowed Freedom to get to 73/1 in the PowerPlay, and stay ahead of the asking rate.

Though Rachin Ravindra fell early in the middle-overs, Andreas Gous and Glenn Maxwell took charge of the chase. Going after Russell and Tanveer Sangha took the team 114/2 at the half-way stage, still well ahead of what was required of them in the tall chase.

Freedom went a bit off the rails when Holder cleaned up Gous in the 12th over and Sangha bowled a double-wicket over in the 14th to remove Jack Edwards and end Maxwell's essay on 42 off 23. Phillips and Pienaar came together with the team needing 60 off the last six overs. They took 10 each of the next two overs from Ali Khan and Sangha to keep the Kngiht Riders on their toes. They continued to bat smart as they followed an early six in the 17th over van Schalkwyk with five singles to stay on course.

Phillips then cranked up the pressure on Holder as he smashed him for a six and four to dwarf the equation from 28 off 18 to 15 off 12. In the circumstances, Ali Khan bowled an immaculate penultimate over worth eight runs to leave the onus on Russell to defend seven. The big West Indian came agonisingly close to pulling it off.

Brief Scores: LA Knight Riders 213/4 in 20 overs (Andre Fletcher 104, Unmukt Chand 41; Ian Holland 2-25) lost to Washington Freedom 214/5 in 20 overs (Mitchell Owen 43, Glenn Maxwell 42, Glenn Phillips 33*; Tanveer Sangha 2-35) by 5 wickets