Holder, Russell bowl Knight Riders to thrilling win over San Francisco

MLC 2026 saw movement in the top half of the points table for the second time on the same day in the race to the playoffs as Los Angeles Knight Riders defeated San Francisco Unicorns, the table-toppers, in their pursuit. The Knight Riders moved up to second place with an 11-run victory, level on points with the Unicorns but behind NRR. MI New York, who won earlier in similar fashion, are also on 10 points at third spot.

Before Jason Holder and Andre Russell had a definitive impact, the Dallas evening fixture also fluctuated throughout. The Unicorns may have felt rejuvenated going into the innings break because of how well they bowled at the end, avoiding a chase that looked like it would end in a 200-plus total at one point. They picked four wickets and conceded 38 in the last five overs as the Knight Riders fell away in the second half. Another half-century for Colin Munro (52 off 43) and a frantic second-wicket partnership between him and Andre Russell, who hit an 18-ball 40 from No. 3, powered the first half. Munro then teamed up with Matthew Tromp, who also played with urgency in his 28-ball 49.

The Knight Riders, on the other hand, crashed and burned to a par total of 184/7 after Munro fell in the 14th over. 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. The Unicorns were reeling at 42/4 in the fifth over when Russell joined in the Powerplay fun and caught and bowled Aaron Hardie.

Matthew Short and Hassan Khan added 76 runs in the subsequent nine overs to keep the chase alive and prevent a quick collapse. However, this stand's break changed the outcome of the game. Lloyd Pope sent Hassan packing, after Holder pouched a sharp catch at extra cover at the start of the 14th over. At the beginning of the 15th over, Ali Khan upset more people by bowling Short out, leaving the lower order of Unicorns to chase. The Unicorns were further thrown into disarray when Shadley van Schalkwyk dismissed Xavier Bartlett, but Hammad Azam revived the match in the 17th over. He hit three sixes in the over despite Russell throwing Broady Couch out on the other side. Even though Unicorns had only two wickets left, the game appeared to be on the verge of collapse after the costly over, with 37 off 18 appearing to be reachable.

Hammad's determination to see it out pushed the game deeper. He did it again off Holder after hitting Van Schalkwyk for a couple of boundaries. However, the Knight Riders captain retaliated, trapping him in the leg before the over was over. Following a 19-ball 40 that nearly won the game for his team, Hammad left the court. Although Haris Rauf was bowled out by Russell on the first ball of the final over, the pair that took the final wicket needed 12 off 6 to win.