Pollard’s unbeaten 63 carries MI New York past the Knight Riders
Kieron Pollard’s unbeaten 63 steered MI New York to a six-wicket win over the Los Angeles Knight Riders in Pomona, the chase finished with a ball to spare.
Jul 5, 2026
Kieron Pollard picked the perfect night to remind Major League Cricket why he remains one of the format’s most reliable finishers. His unbeaten 63 dragged MI New York over the line against the Los Angeles Knight Riders in Pomona on Saturday, sealing a six-wicket win with a single ball to spare and a chase that had looked far from comfortable for long stretches.
The Knight Riders had posted 165 for 6 batting first, a total that felt about par on a surface offering just enough for the bowlers. New York needed 166 and, at the halfway mark of their reply, the required rate was climbing and the wickets column looked healthier for Los Angeles than New York would have liked. Then Pollard did what Pollard does.
Pollard and Anderson turn the chase
The turning point was an unbroken stand of 88 between Pollard and Corey Anderson, a partnership that arrived off just 48 balls and flipped the momentum in the space of a few overs. Anderson finished 37 not out, content to work the gaps and rotate the strike while the bigger hitter at the other end took on the boundaries.
What stood out was the pair’s patience against Sunil Narine. The Knight Riders’ mystery spinner has ended plenty of New York run chases over the years, and both batters seemed determined not to give him the wicket that would have swung the night back. Narine bowled his full allocation without reward, a wicketless spell that told its own story about how carefully New York had planned the chase. With Narine seen off, Pollard turned his attention to the rest of the attack, and the equation shrank quickly.
Anderson sealed it in the final over, clearing long-on for six to bring up 168 for 4 with a ball still in hand. For a chase that had wobbled in the middle, it was a composed finish, and Pollard collected the player-of-the-match award for a knock that combined restraint with the clean hitting that has defined his franchise career.
Knight Riders left to rue a par total
Los Angeles will feel they left runs out on the field. Matthew Tromp top-scored with 44 and there were starts elsewhere in the order, but nobody went on to the kind of innings that turns 165 into the 185 that might have been defendable. Carmi le Roux was the pick of the Knight Riders bowlers with 2 for 39, and Jason Holder chipped in as the attack kept things tight enough through the back end to keep the target within reach.
The defeat continues a frustrating pattern for the Knight Riders, who have found batting depth harder to come by than their squad on paper suggests. For New York, this was the kind of result that steadies a campaign, built on an old head refusing to panic when the chase got tricky.
There is plenty of the league still to play, and both sides will meet stronger tests before the playoff picture settles. On this evidence, though, New York have a finisher who can win them games from positions that look lost, and in a tournament as compressed as this one, that counts for a lot.