The third edition of the Major League Cricket (MLC) has reached its definite business end with four teams remaining out of six on the heels of the playoffs. Washington Freedom continued their tremendous run, topping the table for the second year in a row and look good to defend their title, this time under a new skipper in Glenn Maxwell. The Freedom missed Steve Smith and Travis Head, the two trailblazers from their title win last year but found able replacements in Mitch Owen and Glenn Phillips.
The Freedom will be up against the Texas Super Kings, who probably had their best season in the tournament's history. The Super Kings had their skipper Faf du Plessis in form and is now the leading run-getter for the competition, Akeal Hosein doing the job with the ball and the likes of Donovan Ferreira, Marcus Stoinis and the bowling attack putting their hand up at crucial times and now find themselves in touching distance of a place in the final after finishing in the top two.
The San Francisco Unicorns lost their final league stage clash against the LA Knight Riders and hence, the opportunity to make it to the top two. The Unicorns will now be playing the MI New York, who will consider themselves lucky to be getting another chance in the competition, despite winning just three matches. The Freedom will be title favourites again but Super Kings after seasons of disappointment in the SA20 and a couple of years in the MLC, finally have a chance to get close to a trophy.
MLC 2025 Playoffs schedule
July 9 - Qualifier - Washington Freedom vs Texas Super Kings
July 10 - Eliminator - San Francisco Unicorns vs MI New York
July 12 - Challenger - Loser of Qualifier vs Winner of Eliminator
July 14 - Final - Winner of Qualifier vs Winner of Challenger
Match details
All the playoff matches, including the final, will begin at 5:30 AM IST and will take place at the Gran Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas. The matches, like the whole season, will be live on Star Sports Network and JioHotstar.
