Ben Dwarshuis stars with the bat to end TSK's playoffs hopes

Ben Dwarshuis tonked two fours and three sixes on the way to an unbeaten 38 off 16 balls, helping Washington Freedom end Texas Super Kings' playoffs hopes.

Despite Super Kings' under-par total - more on that later - Freedom's chase was down to them needing 52 from the last 24 deliveries. From 114/6, Dwarshuis navigated the chase immediately in the 17th over. He started with a six over deep mid-wicket while his batting partner Obus Pienaar hit one too. Dwarshuis then sent a fuller deliver sailing over long-off to cap off a 22-run over that rocked the Super Kings.

Adam Milne then nearly bowled a tight over under the circumstances, conceding just five runs off the first five deliveries. But he missed his yorker and Dwarshuis pounced on the low full-toss, to dispatch it for a four to long-off. Amshi de Silva then dismissed Pienaar but also conceded 11, leaving Milne to defend 10 off the last over. It was still doable until Dwarshuis saw through Milne's change of pace and sent it for a six down the ground. Two deliveries later, he sealed the victory.

The chase perhaps, shouldn't have got this close given that the Super Kings posted just 165. Mitchell Owen fell early in chase but Rachin Ravindra and Steve Smith scored 60 off the next 30 deliveries to keep their team well ahead of the asking rate. But once that stand was broken with Akeal Hosein dismissing Ravindra, the chase took a bit of a nose-dive. Freedom went from 79/1 in 8 overs to 107/6 in 15.1 overs - a prolonged wobble that didn't eventually cost them dearly.

That was partly because Super Kings combusted at the backend of their own innings. It was an essay built on a big opening stand between Faf du Plessis and Saiteja Mukkamalla, who added 93 off just 9.2 overs. But they lost wickets in a cluster to get pegged back a touch. They went from 93/1 in the 10th over to 130/4 in the 15th - wickets fell but runs still came to set them up for a big finish. That however, did not come. Freedom scripted their comeback from the death overs as Super Kings lost six wickets for just 33 runs in this period. Ravindra, Owen and Nikhil Chaudhary returned two wickets apiece.

The win took Washington Freedom to fourth spot with 10 points and strengthened their chances of qualification to the playoffs. The three teams above them have 10 points each too, and are separated only by NRR. The fifth team in the mix - Seattle Orcas with 8 points - now need a win their last fixture against table-toppers San Francisco Unicorns to stay in the hunt.

Brief Scores:Texas Super Kings 165 (Faf du Plessis 61, Saiteja Mukkamalla 47; Mitchell Owen 2-19, Rachin Ravindra 2-20, Nikhil Chaudhary 2-30) lost to Washington Freedom 166/7 in 19.4 overs (Steve Smith 46, Ben Dwarshuis 38*; Akeal Hosein 2-26, Dian Forrester 2-28) by 3 wickets