Pat Cummins Claims Steve Smith's Wicket on First Ball in 2024 MLC Qualifier - WAF vs SFU Showdown

The San Francisco Unicorns scored 145 runs in 19 overs in an exciting play-off match. Hassan Khan scored 57 runs off of 36 balls, and Rachin Ravindra took an amazing 4/11 in 2.4 overs. The target was easy for Washington Freedom to reach (149/3) in just 15.3 overs, owing in large part to Travis Head's brilliant unbeaten 77 off 44 balls and Hassan Khan's controlled bowling (2/32). Travis Head of the Washington Freedom team was the merited Player of the Match because of how well he played during his game, which helped them win by 7 wickets with 27 balls to spare at the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium.

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Pat Cummins dismisses Steve Smith in a historic match of WAF vs SFU Qualifier clash in the MLC

On the first delivery of his period during the 2024 Major League Cricket (MLC) Qualifier 1 at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas, San Francisco Unicorns (SFU) Pat Cummins removed his national teammate Steve Smith. Washington Freedom sought to chase down 146 runs to guarantee a place in the tournament's final, therefore this vital wicket occurred as they worked towards that.

SFU's first goal in protecting their aim was to destroy the strong opening pair of Smith and Travis Head, two of the top three run-scorers in the competition, trail only Faf du Plessis.

Pat Cummins grabbed the fresh ball from the opposite end after a tight first over by left-arm pacer Carmi de Loux. He threw a length ball outside off-stump, which Smith tried to have away with a cross-bat stroke finally leading to his expulsion. Cummins and wicketkeeper Josh Inglis thought they heard a tiny edge, even though Smith seemed to have missed the ball completely at first. Corey Anderson, the skipper, was persuaded to take a review by them.

In order to confirm the edge and ultimately to Smith's dismissal, the Ultra-Edge technology showed a spike as the ball went past the bat.

In his first year with the MLC, Smith made quite an impression. He has scored 248 runs in eight innings at an average of 49.60 and a strike rate of 142.52, however, he was not chosen for Australia's 2024 Twenty20 World Cup roster.

Washington Freedom will now face the winner of San Francisco Unicorns vs Texas Super KInga in the final of the MLC 2024.