Washington Freedom vs Los Angeles Knight Riders Preview & Prediction | 2024 Major League Cricket | League Stage
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League leading Washington Freedom, captained by Steve Smith, come into their fourth match of the 2024 Major League Cricket campaign on the back of one game with no result due to the weather and two victories thus far. The Los Angeles Knight Riders, on the other hand, have majorly dipped since beginning their campaign with a victory.
DATE & TIME: Sunday 14th July, 2024 - USA ET – 3:30pm / USA PT – 12:30pm / West Indies – 2:30pm / UK – 8:30pm / South Africa – 9:30pm / Monday 15th July, 2024 - Pakistan – 12:30am / India – 1:00am / Bangladesh – 1:30am/ Australia – 5:30am
VENUE: Church Street Park, Morrisville, North Carolina, United States
WEATHER: 35c or 95 F with clear, sunny skies
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: USA – Willow TV / West Indies – TBA / UK – TNT Sports / South Africa – ESPN / Pakistan – A Sports / India – TBA / Bangladesh – TBA / Australia – N/A
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: USA – Willow TV / West Indies – TBA / UK – TNT Sports app / South Africa – ESPN+ app / Pakistan – A Sports / India – TBA / Bangladesh – TBA / Australia – Amazon Prime Video
WASHINGTON FREEDOM FORM: THE IMPRESSIVE WASHINGTON
Led by Steve Smith, the Washington Freedom have a generally very impressive squad in this season’s Major League Cricket competition and that has reflected in the results with victories over last season’s finalists, MI New York and the Seattle Orcas. Even in their game that was eventually washed out, they were on 62-0 off just four overs in the hunt for 204 against the Texas Super Kings.
LAST THREE: WAWLL
LOS ANGELES KNIGHT RIDERS FORM: BACK TO BAD HABITS
The Los Angeles Knight Riders finished rock-bottom in the Major League Cricket table last season but they managed to win their opening game against the aforementioned Texas Super Kings. Since then, though, they have been handily beaten by both the San Francisco Unicorns and Seattle Orcas so are under pressure as they head into this one at Church Street Park in Morrisville.
LAST THREE: ALLWW
WASHINGTON FREEDOM BETTING ANALYSIS
Travis Head has had an inconsistent opening set of matches and was dismissed for a two-ball duck in a low-scoring victory over the Orcas the other day. It is and will remain a rarity for the Australian to miss out too often, though, and against what is a fairly weak LAKR attack, backing Head to cash in as the Freedom’s top scorer would seem a reasonable shout.
It was an impressive display with the ball the other day in that win against Seattle as they bowled them out for just 124 in 19.4 overs. Lockie Ferguson had bowled really well until that point but failed to take wickets so the New Zealander picking up 4-26 will please him greatly. Ferguson continuing his good form with two or more wickets here seems likely.
LOS ANGELES KNIGHT RIDERS BETTING ANALYSIS
LAKR have really struggled to get off the mark with any sort of a flyer so far. Even their 12-run win over TSK was an unlikely defence of just 162. There is a lot of onus on David Miller to continue where he left off against Seattle Orcas whereby he scored 44 off just 22. Miller to be their top batter in the match seems the best bet for every LAKR match.
Bowling-wise, LAKR are fairly ineffective and lack any real thrust and incision, reliant on an ageing attack that includes the likes of Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan and Ali Khan. Their one dynamic weapon with the ball remains Spencer Johnson and he should pretty much always be backed to be their top bowler in a game.
WASHINGTON FREEDOM VS LOS ANGELES KNIGHT RIDERS EXPERT PREDICTION
This one does actually appear to be a bit of a mismatch. Having a victory already in this tournament, which is better than they had at this stage of last season, is a small improvement and yet still flattering to what is an average LAKR side. This could end up being quite one sided on what should be a dry and difficult pitch but one that should suit the impressive Freedom top order. A comfortable Washington Freedom victory is to be expected.
WASHINGTON FREEDOM VS LOS ANGELES KNIGHT RIDERS TOP TIP: WASHINGTON FREEDOM TO WIN
