Holder, Russell bowl Knight Riders to a close win

For the second time on the same day, MLC 2026 saw movement in the top half of the points table in the race to the playoffs as Los Angeles Knight Riders did enough to snuff out table-toppers San Francisco Unicorns in chase. With a 11-run win, the Knight Riders jumped up to second, level on points with Unicorns but behind on NRR. MI New York, who won earlier in similar fashion, are also on 10 points at third spot.

The evening fixture in Dallas also ebbed and flowed throughout before Jason Holder and Andre Russell influenced it beyond doubt. The Unicorns perhaps went into the innings break feeling rejuvenated by how well they bowled at the death - avoiding a chase of a 200-plus total that looked certain at one stage. They picked four wickets and conceded 38 in the last five overs as the Knight Riders fell away in the second half. The first half was powered by another half-century for Colin Munro (52 off 43) and a whirlwind second wicket stand between him and Andre Russell, who smashed an 18-ball 40 from No.3. After him, Munro combined with Matthew Tromp, who too showed a sense of urgency in his 28-ball 49.

But once Munro fell in the 14th over, a downward spiral ensued for the Knight Riders as they crashed and burned to a par total of 184/7. Holder then came to their rescue by picking three of the four wickets to fall in the Powerplay that derailed the chase early. The big West Indian, who enjoyed an incredible 2025 in T20 cricket, carried on to remove both openers Finn Allen, Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Sanjay Krishnamurthi. Russell joined in on the Powerplay fun to have Aaron Hardie caught and bowled, leaving the Unicorns reeling at 42/4 in the fifth over.

Hassan Khan and Matthew Short rescued the chase from a quick dismantling by adding 76 runs over the next nine overs to keep them in the hunt. But a break in this stand turned the game around. Lloyd Pope sent Hassan packing, after Holder pouched a sharp catch at extra cover at the start of the 14th over. Ali Khan ruffled more feathers by taking out Short at the start of the 15th over, leaving Unicorns' lower order to pull off a chase. Shadley van Schalkwyk then dismissed Xavier Bartlett to put the Unicorns in further disarray, only for Hammad Azam to breathe life into it again in the 17th over. He tonked three sixes in the over, even as Russell dismissed Brody Couch at the other end. The expensive over still put the game back on a knife's edge as 37 off 18 seemed gettable, though Unicorns had just two wickets left.

Hammad's determination to see it out pushed the game deeper. He hit Van Schalkwyk for a couple of boundaries, and then did it again off Holder too. But the Knight Riders captain hit back, trapping him leg before at the end of the over. Hammad walked off after a 19-ball 40 that nearly pulled the game back for his team. The last wicket pair had to get 12 off 6 - still not out of reach, but Russell bounced out Haris Rauf on the first ball of the final over.

Brief Scores:Los Angeles Knight Riders 184/7 in 20 overs (Colin Munro 52, Matthew Tromp 49, Andre Russell 40; Haris Rauf 3-25, Xavier Bartlett 2-24) beat San Francisco Unicorns 173 in 19.1 overs (Hassan Khan 45, Matthew Short 43, Hammad Azam 40; Jason Holder 4-40, Andre Russell 3-42) by 11 runs