Another batting collapse leaves LAKR rooted to the bottom

Neither a new stadium, nor a two-day tournament break could help arrest Los Angeles Knight Riders' slide in MLC 2026, losing to Washington Freedom to mark their third straight defeat.

Opting to bat first after two bungled chases, they scratched their way to 108 all out, which did not pose a serious challenge to Freedom despite the slow and variable wicket.

The ball was lifting off the surface during LAKR's Powerplay, which got off to a poor start with Andre Fletcher's early dismissal. Matthew Tromp, promoted up the order, could barely put bat on ball before back-to-back sixes got him going. But that was about it.

Colin Munro did what he has so far: dropping anchor and resisting any real big hits. Placed at 40/1 after six, their attempt to be watchful slid into a quiet, hollow passage of play. Ian Holland used his cutters well, taking out Jahmar Hamilton with a slow bouncer, while Ben Dwarshuis claimed Munro courtesy of a diving Steve Smith catch.

In the next six overs, they only added 25 runs, losing three wickets. Saurabh Netravalkar – left out in the previous game – then entered the scene to prise out both Jason Holder and Andre Russell in the same over.

Rovman Powell was the only batter with any sort of fluency, using pure power to muscle the ball to the leg-side. If it weren't for his 19-ball 30, LAKR would not have inched past the 100-run mark.

Sunil Narine, batting at four last week, was down to eight, but neither he nor the rest of the tail could provide any support. Mitch Owen took two-in-two to prevent any resistance.

Freedom could afford to be watchful in response. LAKR's best chance was to frontload Narine and hope for an almighty collapse. They got a whiff of it as Owen and Andries Gous succumbed cheaply, both losing their stumps to Narine's magic. At 14/2, the chase was taking an interesting shape.

Keen to press on, Holder bowled himself out inside the Powerplay itself. While prudent, it meant Freedom could silently pass through without taking risks. Placed at 64/2 after ten overs, they weren't bothered by the run-rate.

Steve Smith, alongside Mark Chapman who did the early scoring, smartly nudged along: their partnership prevented any more drama, forming the base for Freedom's pursuit on what he later admitted was a "tricky wicket to bat on".

In a fast-moving points table, LAKR are now at the bottom. Freedom have moved to four.

Brief scores: Los Angeles Knight Riders 108/10 in 17.5 overs (Rovman Powell 30, Colin Munro 25; Saurabh Netravalkar 3-16, Mitchell Owen 3-19) lost to Washington Freedom 110/4 in 17.1 overs (Steve Smith 40*, Mark Chapman 34; Sunil Narine 2-25, Andre Russell 1-22) by six wickets.