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Freedom underrated
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More than 170 minimum bat first
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Faf and Phillips to the fore
Texas Super Kings v Washington Freedom
Sunday 16 July, 21:30
TV: Live on BT Sport
Texas Super Kings team news
The Super Kings brought IPL style to the opener, punishing the Knight Riders by a whopping 69 runs. Devon Conway and David Miller did the damage with the bat but Mohammad Mohsin was the real star.
The leggie claimed four for eight! The former Peshawar Zalmi man, playing as a domestic player, ripped the heart out of thw chase just it threatened to get close.
Probable XI: Conway, Du Plessis, Milantha, Miller, Kumar, Santner, Bravo, Savage, Coetzee, Mohsin, Theron.
Washinton Freedom team news
Freedom were beaten in their opener by Seattle Orcas. But they should be okay to mount a play-off challenge. The balance of the XI is solid.
Confidence is all that is required for Matt Short and USA keeper Andries Gous in the openiong slots. Glenn Phillips and Moises Henriques can then unleash middle-order power. The pace department is strong with Marco Jansen and Anrich Nortje leading the way.
Probable XI: Short, Gous, Mukhtar, Phillips, Henriques, Pienaar, Jansen, Akeal, Piedt, Nortje, Netravalkar
Grand Prairie Stadium pitch report
The pitch continues to look solid for the batters at Granbd Prairie. The first-innings scores (1-2 denote match won by team batting first or second) read: 181-1/215-1/147-2/177-1. There's a sense on a flat one that scoreboard pressure makes all the difference and there's the beginning of a trend to back that up. A score of 180 could well prove to be the average in the first dig and we're inclined to play overs on par lines in the mid 170s.
Texas Super Kings v Washington Freedom match odds
Texas are 1.738/11 with Freedom 2.285/4. Man for man we're not sure those odds are correct. Despite the tradition, or aura if you will, of the Super Kings franchise it really has no impact here.
Their XI is solid-enough but just like every other franchise in this tournament they have holes because of domestic players. With Freedom boasting South African Dane Piedt and Gous, who can be useful, they may have the edge. At the very least they trade favourites batting first.
Texas Super Kings v Washington Freedom player bets
It's a return to a couple of old faithfuls for top bat wagers for this one. Du Plessis retains a Mr Reliable tag despite veteran status while Phillips, the Kiwi destroyer, is nicely positioned at No 4 to do damage for Freedom. Sportsbook could well boost Faf but we'll book in around 11/43.75. We expect Phillips to be priced at 10/3.