Major league Cricket Tips matches 27 and 28: Two strong top-bat bets

Click here for Texas Super Kings v Washington Freedom odds
Saturday 11 July, 21:30
TV: Live on Sky Sports

Texas Super Kings v Washington Freedom MLC Tips

Texas Super Kings have got to start winning if they are to make the play-offs. They sit bottom of a tight league, two points off where they would like to be.

But panic is not far away. They have lost three in a row, the only side to have done so this term, and have a negative net run rate of 0.1. It would be fair to say that their last two matches are must-win.

After solid MLC seasons, Texas are suffering perhaps because Faf Du Plessis has not enjoyed his normal run glut. The portents were good when he hit a ton in the first match of the season. That took his top-bat win rate to even money standards. Since then, things have not gone his way. And others have not stepped up.

If Faf can get some runs on board then perhaps Texas can start to fire. At the Grand Prairie Stadium, their home ground, they could go well. Faf, too. As stated before on these pages the opening batters dominate. There was another win for an opener overnight in the shape of Tim Seifert.  

Also as explained previously, we don't believe there is such a thing as form in T20 for opening batters. It is hard to claim Du Plessis is out of it when only a handful of games ago he was striking bowlers to all parts. It could be that this is the game where he gets one out of the middle early, confidence rises and he doesn't look back. He is 11/43.75 for top bat.

Freedom lost last time out against LA Knight Riders with Steve Smith back in the opening slot. He had popped up, unexpectedly in the middle order for a match. Why any franchise would reckon it is a good idea to delay Smith's arrival to the crease is beyond us but there you go.

Smith should find the surface to his liking and he is taken to produce with the pressure on. Freedom have not hit the heights of last season when they won the ladder and lost to MI New York in the final. They are two points ahead of Texas but have a vasty inferior run rate to every team so they are also in must-win territory.

Click here for Seattle Orcas v San Francisco Unicorns odds
Sunday 12 July, 01:30
TV: Live on Sky Sports

Seattle Orcas v San Francisco Unicorns MLC Tips

San Francisco missed the chance to nail a top-two slot when they were beaten by LA Knight Riders in the early hours of Saturday. Teams appear to be falling over themselves to give others a chance right to the last.

A 12-point haul should do it although they face an Orcas side who appear to be one of the best-balanced units. That has not translated into a rich vein of form, though. They also lost last time out just when it looked they could put a sequence together.

In Marcus Stoinis and Tim Seifert they have dangerous players and will offer a stern test. They can be complacent, though. Quite how they lost to New York overnight is anyone's guess. Chasing 180, which was hardly insurmountable, the game was in the bag at 144 for one in the 16^th. But they collapsed horribly with Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer and Dasun Shanaka managing only 13 runs between them. Hetmyer and collapses seem to go hand-in-hand these days.

Finn Allen produced a nice knock as predicted on these pages, further solidifying the strategy around openers not being discounted after a clutch of poor returns. He didn't win top bat but 40 or more was a milestone win. Taking others out of the equation is not a bad idea. Luhan-dre Pretorius, Allen's opening partner, could also be a strong option. We await Sportsbook prices for 30 and 40 or more for the pair.

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