Pollard, Anderson guide MINY to top of the table
MI New York climbed to the top of the MLC 2026 standings after stretching their dominant head-to-head record over the LA Knight Riders to 6-0. This tense affair needed the experienced heads of Kieron Pollard (63* off 35) and Corey Anderson (37* off 24) to see the holders get over the line in a chase of 165 with a ball to spare.
The defeat, LAKR's fourth in five games, resulted from another iffy batting performance after they were asked to bat first. Unmukt Chand fell cheaply to Corbin Bosch before the hosts plodded to a 37-run Powerplay. Andre Fletcher struck three sixes in a five-ball stretch but edged Rushil Ugarkar to the keeper for a 26-ball 34.
Matthew Tromp dropped anchor while others struggled to maintain momentum. Rovman Powell hit back-to-back sixes off Romario Shepherd before falling to Ugarkar. Andre Russell struggled and fell to the last ball of the 17th over — a wicket-maiden by Bosch, who finished with 3 for 19. Jason Holder then launched a blistering assault at the death, hitting three sixes and four fours in a 22-ball 43 as LAKR managed 44 runs from the final three overs.
MINY crawled to 34/1 after the Powerplay and 55/2 by the 10-over mark, with the asking rate climbing beyond 11. The tide turned when Pollard took 14 off a Shadley van Schalkwyk over. At 80 for 4, Pollard and Anderson had much work to do in the final eight overs.
The pair were calculative, even allowing Sunil Narine to finish his spell with just three runs off the 15th over (figures of 4-0-7-0). That left MINY needing 62 from the final five overs. Pollard struck Holder for a six and a four in the 17th while Anderson added another six to eke out 19 runs. Having reached a 27-ball 50, Pollard found two more boundaries off Russell to reduce the equation to 19 off 12. MINY needed nine off the final over but managed no boundaries off the first four deliveries from Carmi le Roux before Anderson launched a slot ball over long on to complete the win.
Brief scores: Los Angeles Knight Riders 165/6 in 20 overs (Jason Holder 43, Matthew Tromp 44; Corbin Bosch 3-19) lost to MI New York 168/4 in 19.5 overs (Kieron Pollard 63*, Corey Anderson 37*; Carmi le Roux 2-39) by six wickets.
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