The Major League Cricket season continues to tick over with just the one match on Monday as we head back to Morrisville for the clash between the Seattle Orcas and the San Francisco Unicorns which is a big game for both sides.
These two teams have a win each and as we move into the second half of the regular season both could do with a second victory else they are going to put themselves under pressure if they harbour hopes of reaching the playoffs.
Seattle Orcas
It has been a bit of an up and down campaign for the Seattle Orcas with a couple of defeats either side of their solitary win. They have only played three matches in the tournament whereas some have played five so they do still have time on their hands to get themselves back into shape to reach the postseason, but they don’t have as much wiggle room as they would like and with the weather never far away in this event they will want to get ahead of the line as soon as possible.
There has been a clear theme for the Orcas in this tournament. When they have batted first they have come up very short on both occasions and yet when they have been able to chase a score they have won convincingly so they are going to either need to win the toss and choose to chase or they will have to pace the first innings much better. Their bowling looks in decent enough touch if their batters can get it right more times than they get it wrong.
San Francisco Unicorns
The San Francisco Unicorns are another team who haven’t shown much in the way of consistency in this tournament. When they opened it up with a win over the Los Angeles Knight Riders they looked a million dollars and immediately shot up towards the top of the thoughts of those who could win the tournament. That form hasn’t been franked though and since then they have been taken apart by the Texas Super Kings and then suffered a washout which they probably didn’t need.
A win here would put them in a very good position but the margin of that defeat to the Super Kings was so big that their net run rate isn’t too healthy so they will need to get more points than two teams to reach the playoffs unless they do a job on someone. They certainly have the batting to do a job on someone and we now know that Pat Cummins is in this part of the world to try and lead them with the ball. It might be silly to write off the Unicorns just yet.
Special Offer
Open a new Sporting Index account and bet £10 on Major League Cricket (min odds 1/2) to get £20 in free bets (2x£10 free bets) to use on any sports market! Click the image below to take advantage of this great offer! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Responsibly.
Key Players
Heinrich Klaasen threatened to deliver the pyrotechnics that we know he has in his locker in the last match against the Washington Freedom but just as he was threatening to cut loose he got out and the innings subsided. Seattle will hope he kicks on if he gets in this time.
There are a number of left handers in the Seattle batting line up so the off spin of Matt Short could come into play in this match. As well as that he will be expected to smash some balls out of the park when he gets into bat.
Betting
I think we are in for a decent game between these two west coast rivals and one which I think can contain a number of sixes. There are a few reasons for that which I’ll come onto but the sixes line is only 13.5 here which always interests me whenever a franchise tournament comes around. The potential negative is that this is being played in Morrisville but I’m not convinced conditions are quite as bad as some of the teams have made them look.
We have some big hitters on show in this match, many of whom could threaten half of this total on their own so it isn’t like we need everyone in this match to contribute to the six hitting. The other reason why I like the sixes here is if you take Pat Cummins out of the equation, and he might need the run after a few weeks without a game, there is nothing that is going to cause major shockwaves through the batting in either bowling attack. The longer the game here on Sunday went on the better the wicket played and I think this 13.5 line is well within range. I’ll play the over here.
Tips
Back Over 13.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Boylesports
Back them here:
