Believe it or not, yes there is a cricket league in the USA. And it is amply named: Major League Cricket. Six teams fight it out, four make it to the play offs, one gets the title. All matches are played at the same field. This year it’s the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, and all games begin at 00:00 GMT. For this one we are going to Match 13 where, after 7 games, Washington Freedom lead the table, while Texas Super Kings are third.
Two on top, the rest follow
Freedom and the San Francisco Unicorns are at the top with 5 wins, 1 loss and 1 NR each (no result). Washington are first because their Net Run Rate is 1.891 vs 0.588. 876/21 for with 733/53 against for Freedom. 939/36 vs 908/32 respectively for the Unicorns. 11 points each. Our opponents in the discussion today, the Super Kings, have a record of 3 victories, 2 losses, 2 no results, 0.604 NRR, 795/35 for, 796/38 against and 8 points.
The points awarded are 2 for the win, 1 for NR. So, the Kings do not need just to win this one. They also need a favorable result when Freedom play against San Francisco and, of course, a win when they themselves play against MI New York. They hope that since the Unicorns are tied with Washington, they will give it the something extra needed to snatch the win. And by favorable we mean a win. A no result would not be helpful. Especially since the Kings have already lost to San Francisco by 10 runs (190-4 vs 200-6).
The head-to-head says Washington
The records have only one match between the two with Washington as the hosts, on July 8, 2024. It was abandoned when the score was an unrecoverable 203-5 vs 62-0 for the Super Kings. However, there were two more encounters with Texas as hosts and they both ended in favor of Washington (206-5 vs 164 and 163-5 vs 157-7).
Update
It now becomes imperative for both sides to win this battle. Washington Freedom have already lost to league leaders San Francisco Unicorns while the confrontation of Texas Super Kings with the Californian side is just around the corner on Jun 21. Should TSK defeat SFU and WF defeat TSK we will have a 3-team tie at the top spot.
Washington Freedom would still be 3rd
In the aforementioned scenario, the home side would still be 3rd based on their lower NRR and their defeat to San Francisco. However, it will be a pressure situation for all 3 teams and the slightest slip-up would be nothing short of a disaster. Considering that the bookmakers think that Texas will also loose to California, then the confrontation in discussion would be leading the metropolitans to 2nd spot on the table. Performance-wise, it does seem that the Unicorns are unstoppable, this year.
The motivation on this one is just as great as the pressure to both sides. Typically, the home field advantage should go to the Super Kings as the competition is held in Dallas. However, we will go with the head-to-head stats that say Washington and suggest to everyone that wants to open an account at the best betting platform to place a bet on their victory.