The Undefeated Orcas: Major League Cricket Moves to North Carolina for the Second Week
- After a week of spectacular matches, Seattle Orcas are the only undefeated team, while the Los Angeles Knight Riders bow out of the playoffs race after suffering their fourth consecutive loss in the competition.
Major League Cricket (MLC) has moved to Morrisville, North Carolina for the second week of the inaugural session. In the first game at Church Street Park, the Washington Freedom beat Los Angeles Knight Riders by six wickets yesterday (July 20). “This win helped the team move to the third spot on the points table,” MLC said. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Knight Riders bowed out of the playoffs race after suffering their fourth consecutive loss in the competition. The Washington Freedom restricted the Knight Riders to 175/7 before chasing down their target in 18.1 overs.
Two days earlier, in Dallas, the San Francisco Unicorns collected their second victory and moved to the third spot on the points table after defeating Los Angeles Knight Riders by 21 runs. The Unicorns posted 212/7 in their 20 overs before restricting the Los Angeles Knight Riders to 191/5.
Before heading to North Carolina, the Texas Super Kings “definitely enjoyed the home-field advantage they had in Grand Prairie,” and are “at the top of the table with a 2-1 record,” according to Steve Steinberg of CricAmerica. “A lot of this has to do with the stellar batting of Devin Conway and Dwayne Bravo,” Steinberg writes on the MLC website. However, the Super Kings “got a nice surprise on opening night when Mohammad Mohsin grabbed four wickets against the Los Angeles Knight Riders.”
The Seattle Orcas are “the only undefeated team left in the tournament,” Steinberg says, adding that they head into Morrisville with a 2-0 record. “When it came to the domestic draft, no team put more importance on past minor league performance than the Seattle Orcas,” he adds.
The MLC league, which launched on July 13 has star players including Afghanistan T20 captain Rashid Khan, South African internationals Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock and David Miller, West Indians Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo, Australians Marcus Stoinis and Aaron Finch, England’s Jason Roy and New Zealand’s Trent Boult.