WAF vs LAKR 9th Match Prediction

WAF vs LAKR Team Previews

Washington Freedom

After losing their opening fixture against the Seattle Orcas, the Washington Freedom made a strong comeback against the Texas Super Kings in their latest fixture, defeating them by 6 runs. The team is placed 5th on the points table and will look to win here to improve its chances of making it to the playoffs.

Matthew Short was in excellent form in the last game, slamming 80 runs off just 50 deliveries, and played an important role in getting his team to a good total. He will look to give a brisk start here with his opening partner, Andries Gous.

However, there is plenty to improve when it comes to the other batsmen. Washington does have some quality batsmen in the middle order, like Glenn Phillips and Moises Henriques, but they have failed to make an impact so far. Also, the team lacks depth in batting.

The pace attack is quite strong with bowlers like Marco Jansen, Anrich Nortje, and Saurabh Netravalkar. If the seamers put the opposition batsmen under pressure early on, they have a good chance of winning.

The spin attack will be led by Akeal Hosein, who has been quite economical and will be supported by Dane Piedt and Phillips. 

Los Angeles Knight Riders

Despite having some of the best international stars in the squad, the Knight Riders have endured a terrible start to their campaign, losing each of the 3 matches they have played so far. As a result, they are languishing at the bottom of the points table.

With just 2 matches to go for them in the group stage, each game is a virtual knockout and even if they do win both those matches, their spot in the next stage isn’t guaranteed.

Jason Roy, who replaced Martin Guptill in the last match, looked in fine form and will be hoping to give the team a strong start here with Unmukt Chand. The latter has got a couple of good starts but has failed to convert them into a big inning.

It is a similar story with the middle order as the likes of Rilee Rossouw, Nitish Kumar, and Jaskaran Malhotra have failed to get going. Andre Russell has been striking the ball well and will play an important role for the team. His bowling however hasn’t been up to the mark, and the same can be said about Sunil Narine, who has taken just 2 wickets in 3 matches.

Adam Zampa is the pick of the bowlers with 6 wickets, while seamer Ali Khan has picked up 5. The Knight Riders will need to perform well as a unit to bounce back.