Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR) lifted its maiden Major League Cricket (MLC) trophy after securing a thrilling one-run victory over Washington Freedom in the final at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland on Saturday.
Sunil Narine and Jason Holder picked three wickets each as Knight Riders defended the 165-run target in a match that went down to the last ball.
Freedom needed 14 runs off the last over and Holder handed the responsibility to Shadley van Shalkwyk who removed dangerous looking Obus Pienaar (53 off 24 balls) off the second ball and then had Ian Holland caught the next delivery.
Lockie Ferguson hit a four and brought the equation down three to win off the final ball. Lahiru Milantha hit the ball towards long on and was run out while returning to complete the double, as Knight Riders were crowned champions after a dramatic final.
The triumph also marked a landmark 10th trophy for Knight Riders Sports across its global franchises.
Earlier, asked to bat first by Freedom captain Steve Smith, Andre Fletcher (47), Colin Munro (40) and Matthew Tromp (39) took LAKR to 164 before getting bowled with two balls still left in the innings.
Ben Dwarshuis was the pick of the bowlers for Freedom as he finished with 3/31 while Mitch Owen, Nikhil Chaudhary and Rachin Ravindra claimed two wickets each.
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Published on Jul 19, 2026