The second half of the double header in the Major League Cricket on Independence Day on Friday sees the Washington Freedom continuing their MLC 2025 title defence when they go up against the in form Seattle Orcas.
These two sides go into the night in third and fourth but there are huge incentives on show for both teams to win the game. Washington move into the top two with a victory while Seattle go onto the verge of a fourth placed finish if they win.
Washington Freedom
The Washington Freedom are locked in a three-way battle for a spot in the top two in the table and courtesy of the two sides above them meeting earlier in the day they know that they are still in control of their own destiny for the chance to have two goes at getting to the final but that disappears were they not to win this match so although there is no knockout element to this match, it is a contest which comes with a little bit of pressure.
It will be interesting to see how Washington go about their work here. They should be fine with the ball but their batters have prospered so far on pitches where the ball has come onto the bat and they have struggled more than they would have wanted to when the opposite has been the case. The bad news is that the opposite is the case here so they are going to need their bowlers to do some of the heavy lifting. If that happens then this could be a big night for the Freedom.
Seattle Orcas
The Seattle Orcas looked like they were done for after their opening five matches and now they are the favourites to finish in the top four. It has been an incredible turnaround in the last three outings but they can’t rest now because the job isn’t done yet. You do get the impression that they are peaking at the right time though and that is never a bad thing. The big question is whether they have two more big performances in them to guarantee a top four finish.
The credit has to go to the Seattle bowling unit. They looked like they were cannon fodder for the opening half of the season but all of a sudden they have picked up some confidence and are contributing to the situation. That has relieved some of the pressure from the batting and in turn they are suddenly finding the middle of the bat a lot more and out of nowhere the Orcas are looking like a tough team to beat. They will hope that remains the case for another week.
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Key Players
With the pitches here a little on the slow side it would be a surprise if Glenn Maxwell doesn’t have to produce something big to get the Washington Freedom over the line. Whether it is with he bat, the ball or a bit of magic in the field, the Freedom need their captain.
The catalyst to this pretty incredible turnaround has been the sudden seriously good form of Shimron Hetmyer. He is so powerful it doesn’t matter what the wicket is doing which helps and if goes well again, Seattle should too.
Betting
The run line is 355.5 for this one and that just feels high. We’ve seen nothing to suggest that the runs are going to come early on this ground and this will be the second match on this pitch, which was a used pitch going into the day so you would imagine that batting could be as difficult as it has been at any time in the tournament in this match. Both teams are loaded with batters who want the ball to come onto the bat too which isn’t likely to happen so I’m expecting the runs to come at a bit more of a premium here.
In the two full matches on this ground this season ahead of the opener on Friday, we have seen 337 runs and 309 so we haven’t had this total close to being covered yet. If this was in Dallas then I would have expected this line to be pushed but we’re not, we’re on a used pitch on a ground where the outfield looks scruffy and ugly and the ball isn’t getting to the rope nearly as easily. Unless there is a seriously good individual innings I don’t see this line getting challenged here.
Tips
Back Under 355.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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