Texas Super Kings (TSK) roared back to form in MLC 2025, securing a convincing 52-run victory over Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR). With this win, TSK climbed to second place on the points table, while LAKR suffered their fourth loss in five matches as the league phase reached its midpoint.
Early Collapse but Ranjane and Ferreira Spark Recovery
Despite a shaky start at 33 for 3 inside four overs—thanks to a fiery spell from Shadley van Schalkwyk, who claimed three early wickets including Marcus Stoinis for a golden duck—TSK bounced back impressively.
Smit Patel and Shubham Ranjane stabilized the innings with a composed 64-run stand off 46 balls, inching the total close to 100. But Patel fell for 38, scooping Andre Russell to short fine leg.
From there, Donovan Ferreira and Ranjane exploded. Ferreira launched Ali Khan for back-to-back boundaries and smashed Russell for 6, 4, 4, shifting the momentum rapidly. Both batters then launched sixes off van Schalkwyk, whose final over leaked 23 runs.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒎 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑭𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒂. “𝑾𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔.”
Their 82-run partnership from just 40 balls ended in the 19th over due to a run-out. Ranjane (70) fell two balls later. Even with a couple more wickets tumbling in the final over, TSK posted a commanding 196 for 8.
Hosein and Noor Strangle LAKR in the Chase
In response, LAKR’s top order faltered early as Akeal Hosein struck twice in two balls, including a beauty that swung in sharply to dismantle Nitish Kumar’s stumps.
“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚,” 𝑯𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕.”
Struggling for momentum, Unmukt Chand and Saif Badar crawled to 39 for 2 in the powerplay. Marcus Stoinis then dismissed Badar with a smart cross-seam delivery, and the asking rate ballooned past 12 runs per over.
Noor’s Spin Web Traps the Middle Order
Noor Ahmad, the young Afghan spinner, took charge in the middle overs. He removed Sherfane Rutherford, who scratched his way to 13 off 15, and then delivered the knockout punch to Andre Russell with a drifting wrong’un that turned sharply and shattered the off-stump.
“𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝑰’𝒅 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕,” 𝑵𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑹𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏.”
Despite a late six from Rovman Powell—the team’s first of the innings—it was too little, too late. LAKR finished on 144 for 7, never truly threatening TSK’s total.
Texas Super Kings Eye Playoff Push
The win not only ended TSK’s brief slump but also reaffirmed their credentials as playoff contenders. With a balanced performance from both bat and ball, they’ll now look to build further momentum in the second half of the league stage.
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