Maxwell blazing century keeps LA Knight Riders winless

In MLC 2025, Washington Freedom defeated Los Angeles Knight Riders for the third time in a row, led by Glenn Maxwell's blistering century and Mitch Owen's all-round performance. On Tuesday night, they were humbled by 113 runs as Freedom secured their second win. Owen took his turn at the bat and smashed a 32 in 11 balls, defeating Jason Holder, Shadley van Schalkwyk, and Corne Dry in the process. Freedom had scored 53 runs despite losing three wickets in the first four overs. The scoring rate slowed as wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, and by the 13th over, the defending champions were down to 98 for 5. However, that's when the out-of-form Maxwell took off. The skipper set up a late flourish by hitting three sixes in a row off Jason Sangha. He then smashed Narine for six more runs in a few more overs to reach his half-century. The six-hit parade continued, with Dry, Holder, and Andre Russell bearing the brunt of his assault, which included 13 hits over the ropes and only two fours. He went undefeated on 106 to lead his team to a formidable 208-5 record. Obus Pienaar, who played the supporting act in the 116-run unbeaten alliance for the sixth wicket, added only 14 off 15 balls. LAKR were pushed back as a result, and none of the top three teams were able to get off to a good start. In fact, only two of the top-8 batters managed to reach double digit scores. While Saurabh Netrawalkar and Mark Adair did the early damage, Mitch Owen and Jack Edwards piled on quickly as LAKR were reduced to 26 for 5 midway through the eighth over. Sai Badar and Holder stitched a 35-run stand for the sixth wicket to bail the side out from a precarious position, but never to a point where they seemed in a position to attempt a win. Once Badar was trapped legbefore by Owen, another collapse followed. Dry and van Schalkwyk provided some resistance but it was all a matter of formality before they were bundled out for 95 in the 17th over. Brief Scores : Washington Freedom 208/5 in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 106, Mitch Owen 32; Corne Dry 2-33, Tanveer Sangha 2-38) beat Los Angeles Knight Riders 95 in 16.3 overs (Saif Badar 32, Jason Holder 23; Jack Edwards 3-15, Mitch Owen 3-16) by 113 runs