Major League Tips Matches 14 and 15: Aussie pair the one to follow

Click here for LA Knight Riders v Seattle Orcas match odds
Sunday 28 June, 10.30
TV: Live on Sky Sports

LA Knight Riders v Seattle Orcas MLC Tips

Knight Riders reverted to type in their last outing. Needing only 144 to beat MI New York for their third straight victory, they collapsed in a heap to go down by 41. With Andre Fletcher going well up front, it looked like they were going to cruise to the points but a familiar story unfolded.

LA had only won five games in their history before this competition began so old habits are going to be hard to shake. Using Sunil Narine at No 4 doesn't seem to make a whole bunch of sense. The middle order failed to take responsibility again.

Orcas are inconsistent. After five games they have a lose-one-win-one record. Defeat by San Francisco last time is unlikely to worry them, then. It was a narrow loss, too. After posting 191 they fought hard but were undone in the last over. A late onslaught from Brody Couch when they had the game in the bag was unexpected.

We await a Marcus Stoinis man of the match win. He is often good for the gong. As skip he is leading the way, batting at No 5 and opening the bowling. He took two wickets last time on a pitch which could be conducive to his style. A 40-odd and a couple of wickets could well do the trick. We also await a Sportsbook offer, too.

Instead the 6/17.00 that he top scores for Orcas is of interest. It would be a surprise if he didn't cop at some stage this tournament, particularly with Orcas struggling to get the balance right. They really do need to pair Kiwi blasters Tim Seifert and Tim Robinson together.

A top bowler option is Lungi Ngidi, who was terrific in IPL. Whether he is actually with the squad is a mystery as there is minimal news output from the franchises. But the 16/54.20 looks too big.

Click here for San Francisco Unicorns v Washington Freedom odds
Sunday 28 June, 02.30
TV: Live on Sky Sports

San Francisco v Washington Freedom MLC Tips

Something bizarre is happening in the MLC. Steve Smith is having a miserable time. If we use the 30.5 runs mark as our filter he is one more 'fail' from the joint second-worst sequence of is entire franchise career.

Smith has now failed to bust that mark in six consecutive innings. Two were in PSL and four in MLC. Early on Sunday he made bang on 30 against Texas, hitting three sixes and looking solid before falling to Wiaan Mulder. His previous three innings in the tournament read: 1-27-24.

Only twice before in his franchise efforts has he had a similar run of persistent low scores. The third was right at the start of his career when he had a stretch of seven innings.

Smith has been one of the most reliable performers in franchise because he is elite. And elite performers in leagues such as MLC are the punters' friend. That is because the standard can be quite low.

There are varying levels, of course. The IPL is at the top echelon. The Bash, where Smith has destroyed attacks back-to-back-to-back is at a lower level. The MLC is below even the Bash.

At some stage, Smith is going to score big. It is inevitable. The caveat to that, though, is that he could be suffering some form of crisis that we just don't know about. Sportsbook go 9/43.25 that he top scores. They are clearly expecting a knock, too. It is fair for the layers to reckon that. After all, on the win rate numbers across all of his franchise career he is later than a London bus. Big stakes on Smith's runs at 27.5 take others out of the equation.

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