In what turned out to be a masterstroke, Texas Super Kings retired out New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell in a five-over game, replacing him with Donovan Ferreira who struck a nine-ball 37.
Washington Freedom got the toss advantage and elected to field first in the five-overs-a-side game. Marcus Stoinis walked out to open for Texas alongside Mitchell. Stoinis was dismissed off the second ball of the innings, bringing Shubham Ranjane to the crease.
Ranjane added 32 runs with Mitchell to take TSK to 34-1 by the end of the third over, but Mitchell wasn't able to find any rhythm, managing only six runs off the five balls he had faced, without hitting a single boundary. As a result, TSK decided to retire him out and call him in, replacing him with South Africa international Donovan Ferreira.
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Donovan Ferreira replaces Daryl Mitchell, smashes 37 off nine balls
Ferreira had an immediate, game-changing impact. Of the remaining 12 balls in the innings, he faced nine and smashed 37 runs, hitting one six off Saurabh Netravalkar in the fourth over, and four off Mitchell Owen in the fifth. The last over cost Owen and WF 28 runs as TSK went from 34-2 in three overs to 87-2 in five. This is now the second-highest total in a five-over innings in men's T20 cricket history, the highest being 96-1 by Colombo Kings in a Lanka Premier League match in 2020.
In response, WF weren't able to get anywhere close to the massive target, managing just 44 runs in five overs to lose by 43, the biggest margin of defeat in men's T20 cricket where the second innings consisted of just five overs.
Match 23, Texas Super Kings vs Washington Freedom
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- Ball by ball Over
Overall, Mitchell's retired out was the 43rd such instance in men's T20 cricket and the second one at MLC 2025. Earlier this season, Andre Fletcher had retired out for Los Angeles Knight Riders after scoring 104 off 60 balls. That was only the third instance of a player retiring out after reaching their hundred in men's T20s.
The first ever player to retire out in a recognised men's T20 match was Shahid Afridi, who had walked off after scoring 42 off 14 in a tour game for Pakistanis against Northamptonshire in 2010.
While retiring players out when they are struggling for runs and rhythm has started becoming mainstream in the last few years, very few such moves end up being proven as emphatically right as this one did with Mitchell and Ferreira for the Texas Super Kings.
Every player retired out in men's T20s in 2025
| Player | Team | Runs | BF | SR | Inns | Opposition | Ground | Start Date |
| Daryl Mitchell | Texas Super Kings | 6 | 5 | 120 | 1 | v Washington | Lauderhill | 2 Jul 2025 |
| Andre Fletcher | Los Angeles Knight Riders | 104 | 60 | 173.33 | 1 | v Washington | Dallas | 26 Jun 2025 |
| Khalid Niazi | Switzerland | 12 | 22 | 54.54 | 1 | v Luxembourg | Walferdange | 22 Jun 2025 |
| Devon Conway | Chennai Super Kings | 69 | 49 | 140.81 | 2 | v Punjab Kings | New Chandigarh | 8 Apr 2025 |
| Tilak Varma | Mumbai Indians | 25 | 23 | 108.69 | 2 | v Lucknow Super Giants | Lucknow | 4 Apr 2025 |
| Joe Clarke | Abu Dhabi Knight Riders | 29 | 22 | 131.81 | 2 | v Dubai Capitals | Dubai (DICS) | 2 Feb 2025 |
| Roston Chase | Abu Dhabi Knight Riders | 20 | 13 | 153.84 | 1 | v MI Emirates | Abu Dhabi | 24 Jan 2025 |
| Alishan Sharafu | Abu Dhabi Knight Riders | 46 | 34 | 135.29 | 1 | v Desert Vipers | Abu Dhabi | 12 Jan 2025 |
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