Munro, Fletcher, Holder power LAKR in rain-hit clash

Colin Munro slammed six fours and four sixes on his way to an undefeated 64 off 40, while Andre Fletcher (34 off 17) and Jason Holder (28 off 12) put in valuable cameos to earn Los Angeles Knight Riders a winning start to MLC 2026. In a rain-curtailed 14-overs-a-side match, the trio enabled LAKR to chase down San Francisco Unicorns' 150/7.

With a big asking rate, Munro wasted no time to get going, hitting two sixes and a four off Ghulam Mudassar in the opening over. Andre Fletcher started in the same vein at the other end, as the pair pushed their side to 50 in just four overs. Fours and sixes came in abundance, but on the final delivery of the Powerplay, Fletcher holed out to long-off after a crucial hand in chase. Rovman Powell attempted to take up from where Fletcher left off but was dismissed by Peter Siddle for 17 in the 10th over. Even at this stage, LAKR were going at 10-an-over which was still short of what they needed in the chase.

Holder however, arrived emphatically, throwing his bat around with two sixes and a four in a 23-run 11th over from Haris Rauf. Munro reached a 34-ball half-century in the 12th over and hit a six off the last ball to bring the equation down to 17 off 12. Holder dwarfed it further by hitting Siddle for a six and a four in a 13-run over when he was also dismissed. He left his team to chase just five off seven deliveries, which they got on the fourth ball of the final over with a boundary fittingly coming from Munro.

All this meant Lhuan-dre Pretorius's first-innings efforts were rendered meaningless. The swashbuckling South African smashed a whirlwind 58 off just 28 balls - an innings laced with four fours and five sixes.

SFU's innings rode on his knock, and the supporting roles played by his opening partner Finn Allen (24 off 12) as well as the No.3 batter Matthew Short (30 off 20). After a 20-run ninth over from Holder, SFU reached 117/2, but could manage just 33 runs in the last five overs, losing five wickets and perhaps the game there.

Brief Scores: San Francisco Unicorns 150/7 in 14 overs (Lhuan-dre Pretorius 58, Matthew Short 30; Sunil Narine 2-33) lost to Los Angeles Knight Riders 154/3 in 13.4 overs (Colin Munro 64*, Andre Fletcher 34, Jason Holder 28; Peter Siddle 2-27) by 7 wickets (DLS Method)