Tromp, Fletcher and Russell boost LAKR to No. 3
Washington Freedom were hampered by Narine's 1 for 14 with four overs and Russell’s two shots in an over
Andre Fletcher (59 off 40 balls) and Matthew Tromp (50 from 32) scored half-centuries and combined with the bowlers to help Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR) beat Washington Freedom by 18 runs in MLC 2026 in Dallas. The win took LAKR to third spot on the points table where all teams from second to fifth are currently sitting on eight points but LAKR lead MI New York and fifth-placed Freedom on net run rate.
Freedom elected to bowl and had a mixed start. Colin Munro and Andre Russell were dismissed in the first two overs but Fletcher and Tromp responded for LAKR. Between the last three overs of the powerplay they scored 39 runs and had put up a partnership of 50 runs after seven overs.
Fletcher was the first to a half-century, off 35 balls, before Ben Dwashuis ended the 90-run stand by having Fletcher caught by Steven Smith at long-off. Tromp took fifty three balls to reach his milestone but fell in the same over when he spooned the ball to Mitchell Owen at deep cover. LAKR kept losing regular wickets but Saif Badar (24 off 12 balls) and Jahmar Hamilton (22* from 12) helped LAKR thump 41 runs in the last three overs to propel them to 192.
In reply, Freedom were 41 for 3 in the powerplay, with Sunil Narine tight with the ball, 3-0-11-1. Narine dismissed Owen for 17 and Andre Russell claimed two wickets in the sixth over to remove Smith and Rachin Ravindra. Ali Khan also bowled economically for LAKR keeping Freedom in check in the chase in the first nine overs.
Then, with the required run rate just over 12 an over, Andries Gous and Lahiru Milantha fought back. They hit 49 in the next three overs before Narine came back to give away just three runs, ending with figures of 1 for 14. Ali then got rid of Gous (37) and Milantha (40) in the 14th over. Dwarshuis and Nikhil Chaudhary played cameos but it wasn’t enough for Freedom.
