The second half of the double header of action in the Major League Cricket competition on Saturday is a huge one for the two sides involved as a spot in the top four of the MLC 2025 table is the reward on offer for Los Angeles Knight Riders and Seattle Orcas.
These two teams both sit on one win after six matches but the winner will earn a second win which would move them into fourth spot as we head into the home straight in the regular season so this is the biggest game of the campaign so far for both sides.
Seattle Orcas
The Seattle Orcas go into this match off the back of their opening win of the competition. They will be looking to build on that here but it means backing up a fairly emotional win less than 24 hours after the winning runs were hit. They might well have to do it without the hero of that win as Shimron Hetmyer was limping quite heavily by the end of that game and you wouldn’t think he will be good to go 24 hours later. The Orcas will need someone else to step up in his likely absence.
The good thing for the Orcas is that they have got other batters who look like they are coming to the boil and David Warner was on the sidelines on Friday night. The obvious concern is their bowling though. It has been cannon fodder throughout the tournament and although their batters got them out of strife against the New York outfit, you won’t go far having to chase down scores of 230 all the time. This will be the second match on this pitch so their bowlers should get assistance but need to make the most of it.
Los Angeles Knight Riders
In terms of expectation to reality, the Los Angeles Knight Riders are having the worst season of the six in this competition. They were expected to be a dangerous side who were contenders to win the title but they haven’t delivered anything close to the performances needed to fulfil that promise. They are extremely fortunate that three teams have been cut adrift and look to be battling for that last spot in the playoffs and a win here will have the Knight Riders in control of their own destiny.
If that win is going to come along then someone in their middle order is likely to need to step up and be counted with the bat in hand. This is a side who should be offering a whole lot more with the bat than they have done and this might be the perfect time to show their best. That should in turn help their bowlers, who also should be performing much better than they are too. This feels like the match which will determine whether Los Angeles are competitive in the competition or whether their season fizzles out.
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Key Players
Heinrich Klaasen has given up the captaincy for the Seattle Orcas to concentrate on his batting and there were signs of him playing with freedom on Friday night. The Orcas will be hoping he can convert starts into big scores once again.
It is never easy to captain an underperforming team but Jason Holder can lead by example by being the one to go up the order and drive the Los Angeles Knight Riders to a big score and give their bowlers a little less pressure on their shoulders. His bowling could be vital here too.
Betting
It has been hard and costly to follow the Los Angeles Knight Riders in this tournament such has been how poor they have been in the main but it is hard not to be with them here. They have the knowledge of knowing that their win in the competition was against the Seattle Orcas but they have to be getting the Orcas at the right time here. You only had to see the celebrations after their win on Friday night to know what that meant to them and to get up and go again the next day isn’t going to be easy.
The main man for Seattle in that match is unlikely to play here too which certainly doesn’t help them so this looks to be a great chance for the Knight Riders to pick up a second win. The big difference could be that the Los Angeles bowling unit is just slightly better than the Seattle one and when you add that to the confidence the Knight Riders have of having beaten the Orcas in the reverse meeting and the freshness which is on their side and I think Los Angeles are just about value around the 5/6 mark here.
Tips
Back Los Angeles Knight Riders to beat Seattle Orcas for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Boylesports
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