With the league stage of the Major League Cricket (MLC) complete, the spotlight turns to the Oakland Coliseum for the knockout rounds. Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator are slated for July 15; the Challenger follows on July 16, while the final will be held on July 18. Just four matches now separate the remaining teams from silverware after an extended league campaign.
San Francisco Unicorns capped an impressive league-stage campaign by clinching first place with a six-wicket win over Seattle Orcas in Dallas. They comfortably chased 191 with six deliveries remaining, and the result confirmed the final four playoff qualifiers. Los Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York and Washington Freedom advanced with the Unicorns, whereas Seattle Orcas missed out on a place in the knockouts.
A top-order wobble left Seattle Orcas reeling at 34 for 3, but a spirited recovery helped them finish on 190 for 7. Matthew Breetzke produced a counter-attacking 55 from only 29 deliveries, Marcus Stoinis made 49, and Shimron Hetmyer added 36 to steady the innings. Even so, San Francisco Unicorns ensured the momentum never swung completely, as Xavier Bartlett bagged two wickets while Peter Siddle, Matthew Short and Brody Couch shared the remaining breakthroughs.
A place in the top two comes with a significant advantage. Teams in Qualifier 1 have the luxury of a second chance if they fail at the first attempt. Those occupying third and fourth must instead survive the Eliminator, a knockout fixture where defeat means instant elimination. It is the position every contender seeks to avoid.
MLC 2026 Playoffs: Teams
San Francisco Unicorns
Los Angeles Knight Riders
MI New York
Washington Freedom
MLC 2026 Playoffs: Schedule
| Date | Match | Time (IST) | Venue |
| July 16 | San Francisco Unicorns vs Los Angeles Knight Riders (Qualifier) | 3 a.m. | Oakland |
| July 16 | Washington Freedom vs MI New York (Eliminator 1) | 7 a.m. | Oakland |
| July 17 | Eliminator 2 | 7 a.m. | Oakland |
| July 19 | Final | 7 a.m. | Oakland |
How To Watch Major League Cricket Playoffs Live In India?
Fans in India can watch the live telecast of all the playoff matches of MLC 2026 live on the Star Sports Network. The live streaming of Major League Cricket 2026 playoffs will be available on the JioHotstar app and website.
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MLC 2026: Squads
San Francisco Unicorns: Ravichandran Ashwin, Matthew Short, Peter Siddle, Hammad Azam, Ghulam Mudassar, Hassan Khan, Finn Allen, Xavier Bartlett, Aakarshit Gomel, Aaron Hardie, Haris Rauf, Brody Couch, Juanoy Drysdale, Anirudh Immanuel, Stephen Wiig, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Saideep Ganesh, Connor Esterhuizen, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Oliver Peake.
Los Angeles Knight Riders: Jason Holder, Andre Russell, Unmukt Chand, Sunil Narine, Alex Hales, Andre Fletcher, Colin Munro, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Nitish Kumar, Kristopher Ramsaran, Rovman Powell, Ali Khan, Saif Badar, Fabian Allen, Carmi le Roux, Lloyd Pope, Jahmar Hamilton, Karthik Gattepalli, Matthew Tromp.
MI New York: Corey Anderson, Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard, Shakib Al Hasan, Trent Boult, Nicholas Pooran, Ehsan Adil, Tajinder Singh, Ryan Rickelton, Romario Shepherd, Agni Chopra, Corbin Bosch, Monank Patel, Nosthush Kenjige, Faisal Khan Ahmadzai, Rushil Ugarkar, Allah Ghazanfar, Tristan Luus, Sunny Patel, Kunwarjeet Singh.
Washington Freedom: Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Mark Chapman, Ben Dwarshuis, Amila Aponso, Andries Gous, Lockie Ferguson, Mukhtar Ahmed, Jack Edwards, Rachin Ravindra, Ian Holland, Saurabh Netravalkar, Marco Jansen, Lahiru Milantha, Nikhil Chaudhary, Mitchell Owen, Yasir Mohammad, Abhishek Paradkar, Obus Pienaar, Asif Mehmood.
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