Andre Russell put on a show with the bat but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Los Angeles Knight Riders from going down by six wickets to the Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket at the Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina on Thursday.

The Freedom won the toss and put the Knight Riders in to bat. The decision looked like the right one, early, when Washington had the Knight Riders reeling at 68-4 in the 11^th over before Russell came to the wicket.

The all-rounder needed just 37 balls to hit 70*, his second fifty in the tournament. The Jamaican hit six fours and as many sixes. He was supported well by Rilee Rossouw who hit 41 off 30 balls including four sixes.

In the end, LA amassed a respectable 175-7 from their 20 overs. Freedom Captain, Moises Henriques, took 3-26 off three overs while Marco Jansen took 2-29 off four.

The ensuing chase was an all-round batting effort from the Freedom. They needed only 18.1 overs to overhaul LA’s total, eventually finishing on 177-4.

Openers Matthew Short and Andries Gous led the way with scores of 43 and 40, respectively. Short’s innings lasted 35 balls and included three fours and a six while Gous needed just 15 balls and hit five fours and two sixes.

Glenn Phillips also made a good contribution with 29 while Obus Pienaar hit 26. Knight Riders skipper, Sunil Narine, was their most economical bowler with 1-20 from his four overs.

The Knight Riders are still winless in the competition with only one match left to play.

The Texas Super Kings secured a resounding 69-run win over the Los Angeles Knight Riders to kick off the inaugural season of Major League Cricket in the United States.

The Knight Riders, led by Captain, Sunil Narine and including the likes of Andre Russell and Rilee Rossouw, won the toss and elected to field first at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Thursday.

The Super Kings, including Dwayne Bravo, posted 181-6 from their 20 overs thanks to half-centuries from David Miller and Devon Conway.

Miller blasted a 42-ball 61 including two fours and four sixes while, earlier, Conway hit 55 off 37 balls including seven fours and a six at the top of the order.

Pacers Lockie Ferguson and Ali Khan each took a pair of wickets for the Knight Riders.

The Super Kings then used early wickets and disciplined bowling to restrict the Knight Riders to 112 all out in just 14 overs in their reply.

The Knight Riders lost five wickets within the first six overs and were never able to recover to make the game competitive.

Only Andre Russell offered some resistance for the Knight Riders with an aggressive 55 off 34 balls including seven fours and three big sixes.

Jaskaran Malhotra (22) and Narine (15) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures as leg-spinner Mohammad Mohsin backed up some good bowling at the top from the pacers with 4-8 from three overs.

Earlier, Rusty Theron took 2-16 and Gerald Coetzee took 2-22 in four overs between them. Dwayne Bravo also chipped in with 1-10 from his two overs.