The final game of the opening phase of the second season of the Major League Cricket competition takes place on Tuesday night when the Texas Super Kings go up against the Seattle Orcas in Dallas.
The Super Kings know that regardless of what happens here they will be competing in the Eliminator on Wednesday night while even with a win here the Orcas are going home at the conclusion of this game as they are out of playoff contention.
Texas Super Kings
You wouldn’t say that this has been a brilliant campaign for the Texas Super Kings so far but if they can win three matches after this one then they will have achieved what they set out to do. You do wonder how seriously they will take this match given that the Eliminator begins less than 24 hours after this match concludes so that is going to be a short turnaround for what is a much more important match here.
If the Super Kings are going to pick up the three wins they need to win the tournament then they are going to need their bowling to be right on it. They look like they have the form with the bat to deliver the goods but in knockout cricket they won’t need to be chasing scores which get out of hand. In the main that bowling unit has gone well enough but they have run out of wiggle room after this one. This is ultimately a match which Texas just need out of the way regardless of the result.
Seattle Orcas
It certainly hasn’t been the season that the Seattle Orcas would have been dreaming of when they set off on their journey this term. They simply haven’t been good enough at any stage really. They started off slowly in the competition and at no stage have they been able to recover and will duly make their way home at the conclusion of this match. They will be keen to depart with a positive performance at the very least and hopefully from their point of view a positive result too.
If that is going to happen then they have to find a complete batting performance from top to bottom. They haven’t been fantastic with the ball this season but apart from Ryan Rickelton they really haven’t got much out of their batting. They will be hoping that with no competitive pressure on them that they can go out and play with freedom and if they do that then they could well give themselves a chance of ending their campaign with a second win.
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Key Players
It is hard to pick a key player for the Texas Super Kings because we don’t exactly know how they will line up but we do know that Marcus Stoinis could do with finding some form ahead of the playoffs so he might go up the order to see if he can find it.
Will this finally be the occasion that Heinrich Klaasen really catches fire and shows us what he can do? If it is then the Seattle Orcas would have every chance of finishing off their campaign with a confidence boosting win.
Betting
Given that they have a much bigger match than this just 24 hours later I can’t believe that the Texas Super Kings are going to be massively bothered about this match so it might be that the 5/4 on the Seattle Orcas is the value call here. Seattle have nothing to lose and this is their last match of the tournament so they can leave it all out there and not worry about having anything left in the tank for another game the next day and that could be important.
Texas Super Kings aren’t exactly unbeatable in this tournament and if they rest the likes of Faf du Plessis, which isn’t a certainty but could definitely happen, then they would lose a good deal of their batting power in the tournament. I just think Texas will have their eye more on Wednesday night rather than this one and when a team isn’t overly interested it can get away from them quickly. Seattle have struggled this season but this feels like a decent chance for them to end with a win.
Tips
Back Seattle Orcas to beat Texas Super Kings for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Betway
