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LAUDERHILL: Andre Fletcher produced a blistering century to end the Los Angeles Knight Riders’ Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025 campaign on a high, helping his side defeat San Francisco Unicorns by 11 runs in a high-scoring contest on Sunday.
The bottom-ranked Knight Riders may be out of the tournament, but they ended it with a bang, denying the Unicorns a place in the top two.
Batting first in the rain-affected contest, Los Angeles Knight Riders posted a daunting 243/3 on the back of Fletcher’s breathtaking 118 off 58 balls, his second century this season. His knock featured 10 boundaries and 8 towering sixes.
Fletcher added 94 runs with Alex Hales (58 off 26) for the opening stand before joining forces with Sherfane Rutherford (49 off 28) to pile on the misery for the Unicorns.
The momentum never dipped, even with a mid-innings rain delay, and Knight Riders set the Unicorns a DLS-adjusted target of 245.
The chase never really took off for the San Francisco Unicorns as debutant Karthik Gattepali made an instant impact, removing Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk in the same over, leaving the Unicorns in tatters at 7-3.
Despite a valiant counterattack from Sanjay Krishnamurthi (92 off 40) and handy contributions from Hassan Khan (35) and Hammad Azam (38), the Unicorns fell short.
Jason Holder’s timely breakthroughs, including the big wicket of Krishnamurthi and Shadley van Schalkwyk’s clutch final over, sealed the deal for LA Knight Riders.
Needing 18 off the last over, San Francisco Unicorns collapsed under pressure, losing Bartlett (27) and Ben Lister (0) in successive deliveries to fall 11 runs short.
Washington Freedom had earlier defeated MI New York by six wickets, ensuring a top-two finish with 8 wins in 10 games and securing their place in Qualifier 1.
Despite their loss, MI New York also booked an MLC 2025 playoff berth thanks to a superior net run rate over the Seattle Orcas, with both sides tied on three wins apiece.
San Francisco Unicorns, meanwhile, missed out on the Qualifier and will now face MI New York in the Eliminator on July 9. Washington Freedom will clash with Texas Super Kings in Qualifier 1 a day earlier in Dallas.
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