Ali Khan to Seifert, no run, tucks the ball down to mid-wicket as it angled in from a short of length spot

Ali Khan to Seifert, FOUR, to deep mid-wicket

Ali Khan to Seifert, no run, bit of extra bounce, the batter stabs it down into the deck. The ball sprung up a little

Seifert and Finn Allen are at the crease. Seifert is on strike. Ali Khan will open the attack

The openers are there. The Kiwi pair will again look to go berserk. Ali Khan will start.

The players and the umpires make their way out to the middle. Time for the National Anthem of USA. It's done and we are ready to roll.

Unmukt Chand: We had a nice camp in Florida for a week, we had some nice practice, the pitch looks good, we will look forward to going out there and expressing ourselves. You want to do better every season, you want to contribute every season. Last year, we missed qualification by a whisker, the preparations are done and we will give our best.

Pitch Report | Danny Morrison:In the first game, Fin Allen absolutely smashed it as the bowlers didn’t get their lengths right. In the second game, the bowlers bowled better lengths. When you look at the surface, you will see a lot of white markings, it’s a drop-in pitch and it’s a little bit different. You never quite know what you will get. There’s an even covering of grass and the curators have done a great job.

Teams:

Los Angeles Knight Riders (Playing XI): Sunil Narine(c), Alex Hales, Andre Fletcher, Unmukt Chand(w), Nitish Kumar, Saif Badar, Andre Russell, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Matthew Tromp, Ali Khan, Tanveer Sangha

San Francisco Unicorns (Playing XI): Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Cooper Connolly, Hassan Khan, Corey Anderson(c), Liam Plunkett, Haris Rauf, Xavier Bartlett, Brody Couch

Anderson: Probably would have a bowl.

Los Angeles Knight Riders have won the toss and have opted to field

Narine: We will have a bowl first. We will look to restrict them. It is a great experience. Just need to win key moments.

Finn Allen was breathtaking in the first game.

13:08 Local Time, 20:08 GMT, 01:38 IST: Hello and welcome to game 3 of the MLC. It is Los Angeles taking on San Francisco. SFU got off to a stunning start with a win by 123 runs in their opening game. And they would be extremely confident. On the other hand, the LA Knight Riders are playing their first game. They would look to suss out the conditions a bit. But it does promise to be an exciting encounter.

Preview

Being the only team in the competition not to have qualified for the playoffs as yet, Los Angeles Knight Riders are set to kickstart their Major League Cricket 2025 campaign hoping to witness highs that have eluded the star-studded side over the past couple of seasons.

They have hedged their bets on a strong West Indian foreign core, and even as a couple of them are likely to be unavailable for the Saturday clash, there is little doubt over the quality the team possess on paper, yet again.

To confront them first up would be San Francisco Unicorns, a team that started the season with a dominant 123-run win over the defending champions in their tournament opener. They were able to exploit the conditions well in the opening game, with both the batters and bowlers being able to assert the plans well, but LAKR will now have the advantage of knowing what to expect from the conditions.

Finn Allen's explosive innings probably took the attention away from some of the other players. But head coach Shane Watson would be naive to overlook Jake Fraser-McGurk's continued struggle, especially with Matthew Short warming the bench.

When: SFU vs LKR, Match 3, Saturday, June 14, 2025, 2:00 PM (Local Time)

Where: Oakland Coliseum, California

What to expect: The opening encounter of the season, at the venue, provided a run-fest, and it shouldn't be too different this time around as well. Even as Washington Freedom did employ a fair bit of spin in that game, it didn't prove too effective.

Team News:

Los Angeles Knight Riders: The Sunil Narine-led side has a strong West Indian core. But with Sherfane Rutherford and Jason Holder unavailable due to national duties, it leaves them with little option.

Playing XI: Alex Hales, Sunil Narine, Unmukt Chand, Andre Fletcher, Nitish Kumar, Andre Russell, Saif Badar, Corne Dry, Ali Khan, Anrich Nortje, Tanveer Sangha

San Fransico Unicorns: Even as the option of Matthew Short is available, the Corey Anderson-led side is unlikely to tinker much with its line-up following an emphatic victory. McGurk's struggles could be a point to worry though.

Playing XI: Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sanjay Krishnamurthy, Cooper Connolly, Hassan Khan, Corey Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Xavier Bartlett, Carmi le Roux, Haris Rauf

Squads:

San Francisco Unicorns Squad: Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Cooper Connolly, Hassan Khan, Corey Anderson(c), Liam Plunkett, Xavier Bartlett, Carmi le Roux, Haris Rauf, Achilles Browne, Callum Stow, Juanoy Drysdale, Brody Couch, Karima Gore, Matthew Short

Los Angeles Knight Riders Squad: Alex Hales, Andre Fletcher, Sunil Narine(c), Unmukt Chand(w), Nitish Kumar, Saif Badar, Corne Dry, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Tanveer Sangha, Dominic Drakes, Andre Russell, Karthik Gattepalli, Matthew Tromp, Adithya Ganesh