Key Points

The spin battery of Noor Ahmad and Akeal Hosein, anchored by Nandre Burger's terrific first over, left Freedom 43 runs short, as per a press release from MLC.

Having been invited to bat first before rain shortened the match, TSK -- resting their in-form skipper Faf du Plessis -- opened with stand-in captain Marcus Stoinis and Daryl Mitchell. Saurabh Netravalkar delivered a superb opening over, dismissing Stoinis and conceding just five runs. Meanwhile, Daryl Mitchell struggled to find timing on a slow, rain-soaked outfield. In response, TSK made a strategic call to retire him early and send in Donovan Ferreira in search of a defendable total.

With only a couple of overs at his disposal, Ferreira launched a brutal power assault, ably supported by an in-form Ranjane. The Proteas power-hitter hammered 28 runs off Mitchell Owen -- who had taken 5 for 17 in his previous outing -- to propel Texas to 87/2.

In reply, Washington Freedom ran into immediate trouble when Nandre Burger's opening over included a double strike, removing Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Maxwell, despite being hit for 10 runs by the former.

With Maxwell gone and the asking rate climbing, Freedom's hopes rested on Mitchell Owen repeating his heroics with the bat. But Akeal Hosein's disciplined first over stalled their progress further, as he came back strongly to dismiss Owen shortly after the Aussie star began with a six.

From there, the target slipped out of reach for Glenn Phillips and Andries Gous, as Freedom stuttered to just 44/4. The win lifted Texas Super Kings into second place on the table, edging past Freedom on superior net run-rate.

While rain played spoilsport today, both teams will hope for better conditions ahead of their July 4 clashes -- Texas facing the San Francisco Unicorns and Washington taking on the Seattle Orcas in back-to-back games.

- ANI