Washington Freedom dominated the eighth match of Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025 at Oakland Coliseum, defeating Los Angeles Knight Riders by a commanding 113 runs. This was the Freedom's second win in a row and kept them hot on the heels of San Francisco Unicorns and Texas Super Kings who have picked three straight wins so far.Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Washington posted a formidable 208 for 5 in 20 overs. Captain Glenn Maxwell starred for last year's champions, smashing a blistering 106* off 49 balls, including 13 sixes and two fours.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Maxwell’s explosive innings, backed by useful contributions from Mitchell Owen (32 off 11) and Andries Gous (12), propelled Freedom to a daunting total. In response, Knight Riders struggled from the outset, slumping to 95 all out in 16.3 overs. Saurabh Netravalkar led the early charge with the ball, claiming 2/6 in 3.3 overs. Jack Edwards and Mitchell Owen did the damage in the middle with three wickets each, exploiting Knight Riders’ fragile batting.

Knight Riders lost early wickets, as the top trio of Alex Hales, Sunil Narine and Unmukt Chand departed for ducks. Occasional resistance came from Saif Badar (32 off 31) and Jason Holder (23 off 16), but the target was simply too far away by then.

In between, there were two more single-digit contributions - Rovman Powell (4 from 3) and Matthew Tromp (2 from 6).Maxwell’s brilliance earned him Player of the Match, his second consecutive explosive performance guiding Washington to back-to-back victories .

"I gave myself a chance for sure. Being the captain, you want to carry on for the team. I got to a position where I thought I could just go on. I had 155-160 in my mind," said Maxwell after the win."I feel like I was hitting well in India. Sometimes the results don't go your way. Just a bit of time is needed to get going. I have let him (Ricky Ponting) down in a couple of tournaments. I missed out playing for Punjab in the later stages of the IPL. Playing under Ricky, we hopefully have a chance to add to last year's trophy.

"We tried to back that 6 to 8 metres length. Chopping and changing the bowlers helped as well. Netravalkar did well. Adair did well in his first game. You just have to adapt. The attitude in the group has been outstanding. I feel the boys have been resilient. They have been finding ways to win," he added.With this win, Freedom reinforced their position near the top of the table, while Knight Riders remain without a victory in three outings.