Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR) began their MLC 2025 campaign with a loss, as the San Francisco Unicorns (SF) defeated them by 32 runs in Oakland. While chasing a mammoth target of 220 runs, LAKR got off to a poor start by losing their star opener Alex Hales for just six.
Coming in at number three, Unmukt Chand played a blistering knock of 53 runs off 32 balls at a strike rate of 165.62, but it went in vain as his team eventually fell short by 32 runs. Apart from him, the other significant contributions with the bat for LAKR came from Matthew Tromp (41 off 31) and skipper Sunil Narine (27 off 13).
Andre Russell had a disappointing outing. With the bat, he registered a two-ball duck, and with the ball, he conceded 42 runs in four overs while picking up just one wicket.
“It’s been a while I have got runs in this format” – Jake Fraser-McGurk
SF’s Jake Fraser-McGurk was named Player of the Match for his explosive innings of 88 off 38 balls at a strike rate of 231.57. His knock was instrumental in helping SF post a formidable total of 219/8 in 20 overs.
During the post-match presentation, he said: “It’s been a while I have got runs in this format, it’s about contributing to the side and I’m happy. Can’t thank them enough (Shane Watson and co), they have been working hard, (lucky) ground is not that big, conditions suit batters.”
Before this league, Fraser-McGurk featured for Delhi Capitals (DC) in the recently concluded IPL 2025, where he managed only 55 runs in six innings, including two ducks. Even in this tournament, in the previous game against Washington Freedom (WSF), he scored just six runs.
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