Two passionate fans, one devastating defeat, one euphoric victory. Here’s how the same thrilling MLC 2025 final looked through completely different eyes.
Through Freedom Eyes: “How Do You Lose From There?”
Name: Crushed Freedom supporter since Day 1
Current Status: Questioning everything I know about cricket
Emotional State: Somewhere between denial and acceptance
So close I could taste the champagne. We were defending champions. We had this. 12 runs off the last over with Glenn Phillips on fire and Maxwell at the crease? That’s not just doable, that’s supposed to be routine for players of their caliber.
But let’s rewind to when my heart first started racing. 0 for 2 after one over. Zero. For. Two. Boult got both Owen and Gous without them even troubling the scorers. I’m sitting there thinking “Well, this is how we lose a final” and reaching for another beer before the PowerPlay even ended.
Then Rachin happened. Sweet, beautiful Rachin Ravindra with his 70 off 41 balls. Eight fours and two sixes of pure class. For 15 glorious overs, I believed again. Him and Edwards putting on 84 runs, Phillips coming in and looking like he belonged on that stage – we were cruising toward 181 like it was a training session.
The partnership between Phillips and Ravindra was poetry. 46 runs flowing like water, Phillips hitting those two massive sixes off Luus in the 18th over. I was already planning the celebration, texting my MI New York supporting mate about how “your boys choked when it mattered.”
Then Ravindra fell. Sixteenth over, slicing that wide slower ball to extra cover off some kid called Ugarkar. “No worries,” I told myself, “Phillips is still there, Maxwell’s walking in, 12 runs in the last over is nothing for these guys.”
Maxwell took a single off the first ball. Good start, get Phillips on strike, he’s been timing everything perfectly. Phillips takes another single. Still fine, Maxwell’s back on strike, 10 off 4 balls, this is exactly where we want to be.
Then Maxwell swung at thin air. Just… missed. Completely. Third ball of the over and suddenly it’s 10 off 3 and I can feel my stomach dropping. But it’s Maxwell! The man who scored 106 not out against Texas Super Kings just weeks ago!
The fourth ball will haunt my dreams. Maxwell trying to launch it over midwicket, getting under it, and Michael Bracewell settling under the catch at long-on like he was picking an apple. I actually shouted “NO!” at my TV so loud my neighbor knocked on the wall.
Obus Pienaar walking in needing 10 off 2 balls. At that moment, I knew. You just know, don’t you? That sick feeling when cricket betrays you. Pienaar swings and misses at the fifth ball, and suddenly we need 10 off the last ball and the dream is dead.
What hurts most? Ferguson bowled brilliantly for us. 3 for 21! Lockie was on fire, taking wickets when we needed them most. Maxwell chipped in despite being expensive. We had them at a gettable 180, not some mountain of runs.
Rachin played the innings of his life. Phillips was unbeaten on 48 and looked like he could hit every ball to the boundary. Edwards played his part perfectly. We did everything right until the moment that mattered most.
That’s the thing about being defending champions – everyone expects you to handle the pressure because you’ve been there before. But pressure is pressure, and sometimes a 22-year-old kid called Rushil Ugarkar defends 12 runs like he’s been doing it his whole life.
The worst part? MI New York started the season 1-6. One win in seven games! They were practically written off, and here they are lifting our trophy while we’re left wondering how you lose from needing 12 off 6 with two set batsmen.
Fair play to them though. That’s what makes this hurt so much – they deserved it. Coming back from 1-6 to win the whole thing? That’s the stuff of Hollywood movies. It’s just heartbreaking when you’re the villain in someone else’s fairy tale.
Next year can’t come soon enough. But right now? Right now I need another beer and to avoid social media for about a week.
Through MI New York Eyes: “Pinch Me, I Think I’m Dreaming!”
Name: Die-hard MI fan who never stopped believing
Current Status: CHAMPIONS!
Emotional State: Pure, unfiltered euphoria
I’m still shaking. Seriously, my hands are trembling as I type this. We just won the MLC! THE MLC! From 1-6 to champions in one season. If someone had told me this would happen after we lost six of our first seven games, I’d have suggested they seek professional help.
Let me paint you a picture of rock bottom. One win in seven games. ONE! I was getting sympathy messages from my cricket group chat. Friends were “jokingly” asking if I wanted to switch teams. The season felt over before it really began, and everyone had written us off.
But then something magical happened. Game by game, we started believing again. Monank leading from the front, becoming the tournament‘s top run-scorer. Quinton showing flashes of the brilliance we knew he had in him. The bowling unit finding their rhythm.
Tonight though? Tonight was different. You could feel it in the air at Grand Prairie Stadium. This felt like destiny, like all those early losses were just setting up the greatest comeback story in T20 history.
De Kock’s 77 was absolutely sublime. Six fours and four sixes, timing the ball like he was playing in his backyard. That opening partnership with Monank – 72 runs in 44 balls – set the tone perfectly. When you’re chasing history, you need your big players to deliver, and QDK delivered in spades.
The middle order wobble had me nervous. Five wickets for 18 runs? Ferguson was on fire for them, and suddenly our comfortable position looked shaky. But Kunwarjeet’s unbeaten 22 off 13 balls in those final overs – absolute gold! 180 felt like it might just be enough.
Then Washington Freedom started their chase. 0 for 2 after one over and I’m thinking “This is too easy, something’s going to go wrong.” Because when you support a team that’s been through what we’ve been through, you learn to expect the worst.
Ravindra and Edwards had me genuinely worried. That 84-run partnership was class batting, proper pressure soaking stuff. Ravindra’s 70 was the kind of knock that wins finals, and for a while there, I thought we were watching it happen.
But then Phillips and Ravindra started going after everything. Phillips hitting those two sixes off Luus in the 18th over, and I’m calculating run rates in my head, watching our dream slip away ball by ball. 12 needed off the last over with Maxwell and Phillips at the crease? That’s normally game over for the chasing team.
Step forward Rushil Ugarkar. 22 years old! TWENTY-TWO! And he’s got to defend 12 runs against Glenn Maxwell and Glenn Phillips in a final. The kid who wasn’t even a regular starter at the beginning of the season.
First ball: Maxwell takes a single. Good start, get Phillips off strike, he’s been hitting everything. Second ball: Phillips takes a single back to Maxwell. Still okay, still okay, 10 off 4, we can do this.
Third ball: Maxwell swings and misses. YES! Get in! Suddenly it’s 10 off 3 and the pressure’s flipped completely. You could see it in Maxwell’s body language – the doubt creeping in.
Fourth ball will be replayed forever. Maxwell trying to clear midwicket, getting under it, and watching Bracewell take the easiest catch of his life at long-on. I actually jumped off my couch and hugged a complete stranger. Maxwell walking back to the pavilion while we’re thinking “We might actually do this!”
Pienaar comes in needing 10 off 2. The poor guy swings at the fifth ball and misses, and suddenly we need a miracle to lose. TEN OFF ONE BALL! Game over! We’ve done it! WE’VE ACTUALLY DONE IT!
The scenes at the stadium were incredible. Players crying, fans going absolutely mental, Ugarkar being mobbed by his teammates like he’d just won the World Cup. Which, for us, he basically had.
This season started as a nightmare and ended as a dream. Every early loss, every moment of doubt, every time people said we were finished – it all led to this moment. From wooden spoon candidates to champions in the space of a few months.
The beauty of sport, right there. You can have all the talent in the world, all the experience, all the pressure on your side, but sometimes cricket just decides to write its own story. And tonight, it wrote ours.
I’ve supported this team through thick and thin. Mostly thin, if I’m being honest. But nights like this? This is why we put ourselves through the heartbreak. This is why we keep believing when logic tells us not to.
Tomorrow I’ll probably wake up thinking it was all a dream. But right now, we’re champions, and no one can ever take that away from us.
From 1-6 to MLC Champions. Somebody pinch me!
The Beautiful Game: Why Cricket Breaks Hearts and Mends Souls
Two fans, two completely different nights, watching the exact same match. One devastated by how close they came, the other euphoric about how far they’d traveled.
That’s cricket for you – the same 40 overs can be absolute torture or pure magic depending on which side of the boundary you’re sitting on. Tonight, MI New York fans learned what it feels like to believe in miracles, while Washington Freedom supporters were reminded that sometimes, cricket just breaks your heart.
Whether you’re in it for the thrill of the sport or the adrenaline of a last-ball bet, the MLC final had it all. More and more fans in India are turning to platforms like Davegas India to add an extra edge to the excitement, backing their teams, predicting big knocks, or sweating over that final over just like the players do.
The beauty is that both experiences are completely valid, completely real, and completely part of what makes this ridiculous game so addictive.
See you next season, when we’ll do it all over again.
What did you think of the final? Are you Team Heartbreak or Team Miracle? Let us know in the comments below.
