MI New York
Washington Freedom
The first season of the Major League Cricket has reached its last stages where the eliminator fixture is scheduled to take place on Friday between Washington Freedom and MI New York. Both teams met at the league stage as well where MI New York came out as the winners.
Washington Freedom finished its league stage in the third position in the point table with 6 points and a net run rate of +.097. The top bookmakers in India have MLC odds with them.
After a defeat in their last league fixture, MI New York dropped down to fourth position in the point table with 4 points and a net run rate of +1.004. It’s a do-or-die for both teams as this is the eliminator.
MI New YorkWashington FreedomWashington Freedom witnessed a loss in the previous fixture after scoring three consecutive wins at the league stage. Their loss was against their eliminator opponents MI New York. Andries Gous gave a speedy start to the team but lost his wicket at an early stage. Glenn Phillips (47 off 35 balls) and skipper Moises Henriques (32 off 30 balls) handled the innings in the middle order. The bowlers turned out to be a weaker section and except Akeal Hosein and Dane Piedt, no other bowler was able to pick wickets.
Skipper Moises Henriques is expected to use the same combination of players for the eliminator match.
Predicted Lineup: Saurabh Netravalkar, Anrich Nortje, Akeal Hosein, Matthew Short, Marco Jansen, Glenn Phillips, Obus Pienaar, Andries Gous, Mukhtar Ahmed, Moises Henriques, Dane Piedt
The inconsistent performance of MI New York players was visible against Seattle Orcas in the previous fixture. Batting First, MI New York’s opening partnership was of no use but it was Nicholas Pooran at number three who handles the pressure and scored 68 off 34 at a strike rate of 200. Kieron Pollard also played a cameo and scored 34 off 18 balls. Rashid Khan and Trent Boult gave a good start to the team in the bowling department but they were unable to stop the ferocious batters of the Seattle Orcas.
Team management will be concerned about the inconsistent batting lineup but they might not do any changes in the team.
Predicted Lineup: Timothy David, Kieron Pollard, Nosthush Kenjige, David Wiese, Nicholas Pooran, Monank Patel, Ehsan Adil, Hammad Azam, Trent Boult, Rashid Khan, Shayan Jahangir
We are in for an absolute thriller because both teams will be highly motivated to reach the next stage. Both teams lack a major depth in their batting lineup. However, MI New York is one step ahead because their strength is bowling. We predict a win for MI New York in the eliminator.
