Saurabh Netravalkar, a dual professionalist with good marking in both- engineering as well as cricket, claimed a remarkable six wicket-haul by giving away just nine runs to help Washington Freedom beat San Francisco Unicorns by 30 runs in match 11 of Major League Cricket (MLC) on Sunday.
Netravalkar, who was born in Mumbai, now lives in the United States. He surprised San Francisco Unicorns in a barbarous manner as he wreaked havoc thanks to his scintillating 6 wickets to bowl out Unicorns at 103. He made an immediate impact early on and took three wickets in the powerplay to leave the Unicorns reeling at 31 for 4.
Saurabh Netravalkar then returned to bowl the final over of the Unicorns innings where he scalped another three wickets to finish with figures of 6 for 9. It currently stands as the best bowling figure in the history of the MLC.
The Unicorns were never in the chase and were bowled out for just 103 in the 20th over of the inning. Unicorns were chasing the minimal target of 133 runs. However, Netravalkar’s storm messed them up and the whole team fell prey to his disastrous bowling.
Netravalkar was named the man of the match for his outstanding performance.
“I’m just happy to contribute to the team’s victory. I was a bit nervous at the start, but I just tried to bowl my best and it worked out.” – the 31-year-old said after the game. Netravalkar’s performance is a reminder of the talent that exists in the United States. He is a classic example of someone who has turned their passion for cricket into a successful career.
He is a graduate of Cornell University of New York. He now works as a senior software engineer at Oracle. Netravalkar has represented the Indian team at the Under-19. He is now hoping to make his international debut in the senior team. His performance against the Unicorns will have given him a lot of confidence. He is a talented bowler who has the potential to be a big star in the MLC and for the United States team.
