Munro and Holder lead Knight Riders past Unicorns in 14-overs a side contest

Munro and Holder Lead Knight Riders to Victory

The Los Angeles Knight Riders secured a thrilling seven-wicket victory over the San Francisco Unicorns in the opening MLC 2026 match, with Colin Munro’s impressive 64* and Jason Holder’s late surge proving to be the decisive factors.

Colin Munro’s 64* in 40 balls, and his 70-run opening stand with Andre Fletcher, which ended at the end of the sixth over, made all the difference as Los Angeles Knight Riders held on to put it past San Francisco Unicorns in the rain-affected, 14-overs-a-side game.

Chasing a Steep Target

It got a bit tricky for Knight Riders as they chased a steep 151-run target. When the 11th over of the chase began, Knight Riders still had 52 runs to get from 24 balls. But Haris Rauf‘s over went for 23 runs, with Jason Holder, having just walked out, smashing two sixes and a four to go with Munro’s boundary at the start of the over.

That brought the requirement down to 29 from 18, and then it was the home stretch, and Munro led the way past the finish.

Unicorns’ Innings

Unicorns had Lhuan-dre Pretorius to thank for the target they set Knight Riders. It wasn’t the sort of frenetic start you would expect in a shortened game, but Pretorius was on a solid 39 in 18 balls at the end of 4.1 overs, which was the revised powerplay, and Unicorns were a healthy 48 for no loss.

And they reached 123 for 3 after ten, looking good to go well past 160, even 170. But Carmi le Roux, Andre Russell, Holder and Shadley van Schalkwyk bowled the last four overs, in that order, and gave away just four, seven, seven and nine runs respectively, pegging Unicorns back.

Conclusion

In the end, the numbers were good enough for Knight Riders, who won by seven wickets, with two balls remaining. The good work from Pretorius at the top, though, had given them a bit of cushion – his 28-ball 58 quite the innings of the match even if it ended up on the losing side.