After Jason Holder and Andre Russell worked together to write a thrilling 11-run victory over San Francisco Unicorns, the Los Angeles Knight Riders moved up to second place on the MLC 2026 points table.
Holder and Russell helped LAKR, defending 184, reduce Unicorns to 42 for 4 in five overs before Hassan Khan (45), Matthew Short (43), and Hammad Azam’s 19-ball 40 restored the pursuit. The Unicorns needed 18 off 10 balls with two wickets when Hammad struck Holder for consecutive fours at the beginning of the 19th over.
But with five balls left, Russell took the last wicket to bowl Unicorns out after Holder dismissed Hammad off the penultimate ball of the over.
Russell got 3 for 42 after making a cameo with the bat, while Holder finished with 4 for 40 to win Player-of-the-Match.
Russell gave LAKR the late boost with a 40 off only 18 balls after Colin Munro’s 52 and Matthew Tromp’s 49 had earlier established the groundwork. Before Haris Rauf (3 for 25) and Xavier Bartlett (2 for 24) caused a late collapse that saw LAKR lose five wickets for 52 runs, they appeared headed for a total over 200.
After bouncing back from their early collapse, Unicorns threatened to pull off the pursuit, but LAKR maintained their composure in the final moments to record a second straight victory and advance to second place.
After nine games, Unicorns, LAKR, and MI New York have ten points apiece, with Unicorns leading due to their net run rate.
