The Major League Cricket regular season concludes on Sunday and it does so with a double header of action in the MLC 2025 campaign which begins with the early match between the Washington Freedom and MI New York.
We already know that the Freedom will take their title defence into the postseason and they will be joined there by New York barring something extraordinary, however Washington can still finish in the top two if they win here.
Washington Freedom
It looked as though the Washington Freedom were about to push on and finish in the top two of the table when they were on a run of six wins on the spin but they had their progression halted in a rain affected match against the Texas Super Kings which allowed the men in yellow to gatecrash the party. Nevertheless, the Freedom got back on track in their latest outing when they demolished the Seattle Orcas and they now know that victory here will secure a top two finish and two goes at reaching the final should they need them.
It will be harsh on Washington if that five over loss to the Super Kings is what denies them a spot in the top two but even so they would need to lose here for it to be costly. The Freedom batting has just dropped a gear in the last couple of matches. They are not the only ones, that is down to the pitch, but it will be interesting to see if someone can modify their natural game enough to deliver the sort of innings that can have them in control of the game.
MI New York
It has been much more of a battle than they would have wanted it to be but a double header against the useless Los Angeles Knight Riders came along at a good time for the MI New York side and they are now in fourth spot going into the final day of the regular season and knowing it would need a monumental margin of defeat for them to drop out of that position. That means they can play this one out and prepare themselves to win three knockout matches in the space of a week once they get back to Dallas.
The New York batting has come to the party but it is actually their bowling in the last match or two which has been the order of the day. Their slower bowlers have been able to prosper on this Florida track and then they have found that they have had options at the death who aren’t going around the park. New York do have to back up playing on Saturday but if they can do that then their bowling looks like it is going to keep them competitive.
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Key Players
We’ve seen Glenn Phillips do his thing with the bat and in the field the longer this competition has gone on but if the Washington Freedom need an off spinner to the New York left handers then he could be utilised in that role too.
Kieron Pollard took a little bit of time to warm up in this tournament but the longer it has gone on the more impactful he has been with both the bat and the ball. He is always a gun in the field and you feel that he is a key man for New York here.
Betting
I don’t really get how the Washington Freedom are as big as 4/5 here I have to say. They are the better team of the two and I’m not sure it is that close and they are the ones who really have something to play for. The margin of defeat needed for MI New York to miss out on the top four is so big that they can just go through the motions here and save themselves for Wednesday whereas a top two spot is there for the Freedom to take.
New York, for all that they have had a good weekend, have only beaten the two sides below them in the table and they came up short when these two met in the reverse meeting. They also have to back up a match the day before and this is a New York team which have a few aging bodies in it so that could be an issue. Washington don’t have to worry about any of that and I would expect them to come out on top here as a result.
Tips
Back Washington Freedom to beat MI New York for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
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