OC’s MLC 2024 Match Prediction: NY vs WAS, Who Will Win Today’s Match?

Washington Freedom and MI New York will play against each other in the 14th match of MLC 2024 [X]

In the 14th match of the MLC 2024, the MI New York will be facing the Washington Freedom. This match will be played at the Grand Prarie Stadium in Dallas on July 17th at 6:00 AM IST. 

This will be an important match for both teams. While Washington Freedom, the team in form, will be looking to win this game and ensure a top-two finish in the league, it will be a battle for survival for the MI New York. 

Before the start of the match, let us look at the playing conditions, the form of the players and the crucial factors that might decide the fate of the game. 

How has the Grand Prairie Stadium’s pitch behaved?

The pitch at the Grand Prairie stadium in Dallas has been a competitive one so far. The wicket has kept players of all trades honest and has provided an even ground for them to contest. Let us look at he scoring patters on this pitch in this tournament. 

Totals

NY vs WAS: Predicted Toss Result

The toss has not played a major factor in deciding the fate of the game. However, the skipper winning the toss might look to field first.

NY vs WAS: Important Player Battles

Travis Head vs Trent Boult (T20s)

Expected Outcome – There is a general notion that Travis Head struggles against the left-arm pacers. Keeping this in mind, Kieron Pollard will hope that Trent Boult plays a major role in keeping the Aussie opener quiet or seeing his back quickly. However, the numbers suggest that Travis Head has dominated Boult in T20s, and hence, we could expect him to get going in this game pretty early in the innings. 

Nicholas Pooran vs Lockier Ferguson (T20s)

Expected Outcome – The fate of the game will depend a lot on how Nicholas Pooran bats for MI New York in the middle overs. Steve Smith will be looking to get rid of this explosive West Indian batter as soon as possible. The Freedom Skipper can use Lockie Ferguson as his key weapon against Pooran. The Kiwi pacer is in a great rhythm in the tournament and also has a brilliant strike rate against Pooran. Hence, Ferguson can be the dominant participant in this face-off.

NY vs WAS: Weakness of the teams

MI New York 

Over dependency on Nicholas Pooran

Nicholas Pooran has acted as the fulcrum in the MI New York batting. His scores have been directly proportional to how the team does during their batting effort in a game. MI New York has suffered from the lack of batters who are able to bat around the Pooran and maintain the momentum of the team. This over-dependency on Pooran will be the biggest weakness of MI New York for this match. 

Washington Freedom

Reliance on Steve Smith

Steve Smith’s batting has been a key factor for the Washington Freedom in the tournament. His new aggressive approach has helped the team gain an advantage in most of the games. Besides this version 2.0 of Steve Smith, the Aussie star’s experience has gone a long way in the undefeated journey of the team in the tournament. 

However, the freedom of batting has depended a lot on how Steve Smith sets the pace of the innings. It will be interesting to see how the Freedom batting perform if Smith fails to fire.

NY vs WAS: Strengths of the teams

MI New York

Rashid Khan’s all-round form

The Afghan all-rounder played a lone hand with both the bat and the ball and nearly took his team to win in the last game against the Texas Super Kings. Rashid Khan is not only bowling some very efficient spells with the ball in the middle overs, but he is also showing his ability with bat in the lower order. The fact that Rashid Khan makes game-changing contributions in both innings is one of the biggest strengths of the team.

Washington Freedom

The Netravalkar-Ferguson factor

Saurabh Netravalkar has been a revelation for Freedom in the tournament. With 12 wickets under his belt in the tournament, the US left-arm pacer is currently the highest wicket-taker in the tournament. Lockie Ferguson has played a perfect aid to Netravalar. While the US pacer has picked up wickets in the power play and death overs, Ferguson has taken up the responsibility in the middle overs. The striking ability of the two bowlers has been a key factor in Freedom’s being at the top of the table, and it will be their biggest strength going into this game.

NY vs WAS: Today’s Match Prediction

NY vs WAS: Predicted Score

Predicted first innings score: 165-180

Predicted second innings score: 155-170

Predicted Result: It is expected that both teams will fight hard in the game. The team batting first will hold an edge in the game.