Time for the national anthem of USA.

Pitch report by Daren Ganga: This is pitch 1 being used today which is the same as used for the last two games. The heavy ton roller has been used. It's light brown and lot of water content in this. It's rock-hard. The seam movement increased from 0.5 to 0.7 per cent from game 1 to game 2 so expect it to help them today as well. Only once in 9 games here has a team batting first won the game. A score of 150-160 is minimum on this.

Teams:

Texas Super Kings (Playing XI): Devon Conway(w), Faf du Plessis(c), Aaron Hardie, Joshua Tromp, Marcus Stoinis, Milind Kumar, Calvin Savage, Dwayne Bravo, Mohammad Mohsin, Naveen-ul-Haq, Zia-ul-Haq

Washington Freedom (Playing XI): Travis Head, Steven Smith(c), Andries Gous(w), Glenn Maxwell, Obus Pienaar, Mukhtar Ahmed, Akeal Hosein, Marco Jansen, Justin Dill, Lockie Ferguson, Saurabh Netravalkar

Faf du Plessis: Same thing, similar to what Smudgy was saying, not sure what the wicket will do, if given a choice will go second. That's the nature of the game, when you lose 3-4 wickets in clusters. Apart from that we were good with bowlers restricting. This is a new pitch and we have to adjust and see what we can do. Some places with the way IPL is going 240 is the norm but here we have to play old-school cricket here. One change - DJ Bravo in for Gerald Coetzee.

Steve Smith: We are gonna bowl. Did it the other day and it worked well on this track, also like to chase. [on scoring heavily against Norje in the last game] I did not have a clue, just turned out that way. Was a good win for the guys and hopefully we can take momentum from that. We were pretty good, couple of areas to improve on. Same team.

Washington Freedom have won the toss and have opted to field

14:48 Local Time, 18:48 GMT, 00:18 IST: Hello and welcome to game number 5 of the MLC. It is Washington Freedom taking on Texas Super Kings. Washington courtesy a superb knock from Steve Smith got home as rains came in and DLS took over to hand them a 4-run win. Texas on the other hand lost a close game against the Knight Riders. Texas had Conway getting some form but Faf failed to get going. However, they need to get off the mark and today might be the right opportunity!

Preview:

Washington Freedom may have got going with a winning start to their Major League Cricket 2024 campaign, but a rain-impacted encounter meant they couldn't get an opportunity to put their potential to test fully. It's unlikely to be much different when they take on Texas Super Kings in their next encounter at the same venue, Morrisville's Church Street Park. Cloudy skies and rain are predicted, but much like the first encounter, Freedom wouldn't be complaining if they get an opportunity to add two more points to their tally.

Saurabh Netrwalkar and Justin Dill's performances with the ball was the standout feature of their victory in the previous game, and they would hold as much key in the next game against a side that is yet to put points on the board. Devon Conway's half-century notwithstanding, Super Kings were outplayed in their opening encounter against Los Angeles Knight Riders.

Super Kings did have a few notable performers with the ball, but barring Calvin Savage, no other batter could credibly support Conway's efforts in the opening game. It's a department they would expect a better show from against Freedom to mark their first win of the season.

When: Monday, July 8, 3:30 PM Local Time

Where: Washington Freedom vs Texas Super Kings, Church Street Park, Morrisville

What to expect: The first game of the season in Morrisville is expected to be played under cloudy skies with possibilities of rain.

Team Watch:

Washington Freedom: Following a winning start, where most of the bowlers did a reasonable job and most of the batters went untested, Freedom are unlikely to make changes

Likely XI: Travis Head, Steve Smith, Andries Gous, Glenn Maxwell, Obus Pienaar, Mukhtar Ahmed, Akeal Hosein, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Justin Dill, Saurabh Netrawalkar

Texas Super Kings: A solid team on paper that probably would've expected better from its batters in the previous game. Nonetheless, they are unlikely to make changes to their XI.

Likely XI: Devon Conway, Faf du Plessis, Aaron hardie, Joshua Tromp, Marcus Stoinis, Milind Kumar, Calvin Savage, Gerald Coetzee, Mohammad Mohsin Naveen ul Haq

Squads:

Washington Freedom Squad: Travis Head, Steven Smith(c), Andries Gous(w), Glenn Maxwell, Obus Pienaar, Mukhtar Ahmed, Marco Jansen, Akeal Hosein, Lockie Ferguson, Justin Dill, Saurabh Netravalkar, Andrew Tye, Ian Holland, Rachin Ravindra, Lahiru Milantha, Jack Edwards, Yasir Mohammad, Bodugum Akhilesh Reddy, Amila Aponso

Texas Super Kings Squad: Devon Conway(w), Faf du Plessis(c), Aaron Hardie, Joshua Tromp, Marcus Stoinis, Milind Kumar, Calvin Savage, Gerald Coetzee, Mohammad Mohsin, Naveen-ul-Haq, Zia-ul-Haq, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Santner, Daryl Mitchell, Cameron Stevenson, Noor Ahmad, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Dwayne Bravo, Zia Shahzad, Raj Nannan