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San Francisco speedster Pat Cummins stepped up for his side at the biggest moment by dismissing the dangerous Travis Head in his first over during the 2024 Major League Cricket (MLC) final against the Washington Freedom. The right-arm pacer got his international teammate caught at slip for an early breakthrough at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
San Francisco Unicorns opted to bowl first after winning the toss and had their biggest task in front of them straight away. The pair of Travis Head and Steve Smith have been wreaking havoc at the top of the order throughout the tournament, with the former even scoring a match-winning knock in Qualifier 1, when these two sides last met.
Head was on the back of five consecutive fifties in the tournament, and threatened to take the game away early by scoring two boundaries in the first over off Carmi le Roux.
He attempted to continue the onslaught against Cummins in the second over, and looked for a confident pull of a length delivery early into the pacer's spell. The delivery, angling across the left-handed batter, was always going away from reach against the pull shot.
Head managed to find some contact, but only through the outside edge. The ball then flew towards Finn Allen at first slip, where he completed the catch on the second attempt after a brief juggle. Have a look at the key wicket right here:
In the Qualifier 1 clash as well, Cummins was responsible for breaking the opening partnership by dismissing Smith off the first ball of his spell.
Travis Head ends his maiden MLC campaign with 336 runs at a strike rate of 173.19
The explosive batter had a campaign to remember, ending up as the joint second-highest run gettter with 336 runs at a strike rate of 173.19. He played a huge role in Washington Freedom's dominant run into the playoffs and their progress into the final as well.
Despite losing Travis Head early, the Washington Freedom dominated with the bat courtesy of Steve Smith's fifty as well as a priceless cameo from Glenn Maxwell. They ended up posting a mammoth 207-5 in the final, to reach one step closer to the title.
