2025 Major League Cricket season
Third season of Major League Cricket
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2025 Major League Cricket (also known as MLC 2025, or for sponsorship reasons as 2025 Cognizant Major League Cricket) was the third season of Major League Cricket, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league established in 2019 by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) in the United States. The tournament was played from June 12 to July 13, 2025.
DatesJune 12 – July 13, 2025
Administrator(s)American Cricket Enterprises
USA Cricket
USA Cricket
Cricket formatTwenty20
Tournament format(s)Double round-robin and playoffs
| |
| Dates | June 12 – July 13, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | American Cricket Enterprises USA Cricket |
| Cricket format | Twenty20 |
| Tournament format(s) | Double round-robin and playoffs |
| Champions | MI New York (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Washington Freedom |
| Participants | 6 |
| Matches | 34 |
| Player of the series | Mitchell Owen (Washington Freedom) |
| Most runs | Monank Patel (MI New York) (478) |
| Most wickets | Xavier Bartlett (San Francisco Unicorns) (18) |
| Official website | Major League Cricket |
In the final, MI New York defeated defending champions the Washington Freedom by 5 runs in a last-over thriller to win their second title.[1][2]
Background
In May 2024, MLC announced plans to expand its season from 19 games to 34 by its third season.[3][4] By January 2025, amidst concerns that the league's schedule would overlap with other T20 leagues like The Hundred, MLC announced that their season would run from mid-June to July, thereby avoiding conflict.[5] A full schedule would be released in March, following the season's annual domestic draft.[6]
The domestic draft, which was held in February 2025, saw a number of top players released by teams – key amongst them being Pat Cummins and Travis Head.[7]
Teams
All six teams from the previous season will take part this season.[8]
| Franchise | Captain | Head coach |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Knight Riders | Sunil Narine | Dwayne Bravo |
| MI New York | Nicholas Pooran | Mark Boucher |
| San Francisco Unicorns | Corey Anderson[a] | Shane Watson |
| Seattle Orcas | Sikandar Raza[b] | TBD[c] |
| Texas Super Kings | Faf du Plessis | Stephen Fleming |
| Washington Freedom | Glenn Maxwell[d] | Ricky Ponting |
Squads
Initially, ahead of the season opener, the appearance of Afghan players in the tournament was in doubt due to U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban on twelve countries, including Afghanistan.[11] Trump's proclamation, however, allowed travel for players participating in a "major sporting event"; MLC was classified as such an event, thus Afghan players were allowed to participate.[12]
| Los Angeles Knight Riders | MI New York | San Francisco Unicorns | Seattle Orcas | Texas Super Kings | Washington Freedom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Venues
Matches were held at three venues: Grand Prairie's Grand Prairie Stadium, Lauderhill's Broward County Stadium, and Oakland's Oakland Coliseum.[13][14] This was the first tournament in which games were held at Oakland and Lauderhill; Morrisville's Church Street Park hosted games the previous two tournaments.[15][16]
| Oakland | Grand Prairie | Lauderhill |
|---|---|---|
| Oakland Coliseum | Grand Prairie Stadium | Broward County Stadium |
| Capacity: 12,000 | Capacity: 7,200 | Capacity: 20,000 |
| Matches: 9 | Matches: 16 | Matches: 9 |
 |
 |
 |
Points table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington Freedom | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0.954 | Advanced to Qualifier |
| 2 | Texas Super Kings | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1.603 | |
| 3 | San Francisco Unicorns | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1.330 | Advanced to Eliminator |
| 4 | MI New York (C) | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | −0.518 | |
| 5 | Seattle Orcas | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | −1.842 | Eliminated |
| 6 | Los Angeles Knight Riders | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | −1.320 |
Match summary
| Win | Loss | No result |
- Note: The total points at the end of each group match are listed.
- Note: Click on the points (group matches) or W/L (playoffs) to see the match summary.
| Visitor team → | LAKR | MINY | SFU | SO | TSK | WF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home team ↓ | ||||||
| Los Angeles Knight Riders | New York 8 wickets | Los Angeles 11 runs (DLS) | Seattle 5 wickets | Texas 57 runs | Washington 5 wickets | |
| MI New York | New York 6 runs | San Francisco 47 runs | New York 7 wickets | Texas 3 runs | Washington 2 wickets | |
| San Francisco Unicorns | San Francisco 32 runs | San Francisco 3 wickets | Seattle 4 wickets | San Francisco 1 run | San Francisco 123 runs | |
| Seattle Orcas | Los Angeles 6 wickets | Seattle 3 wickets | San Francisco 32 runs | Texas 51 runs | Washington 5 wickets | |
| Texas Super Kings | Texas 52 runs | Texas 39 runs | San Francisco 7 wickets | Texas 93 runs | Texas 43 runs | |
| Washington Freedom | Washington 113 runs | Washington 6 wickets | Washington 12 runs | Washington 8 wickets | Washington 7 wickets |
| Home team won | Visitor team won |
- Note: Results listed are according to the home (horizontal) and visitor (vertical) teams.
- Note: Click on a result to see a summary of the match.
League stage
San Francisco Unicorns 269/5 (20 overs) |
v |
Washington Freedom 146 (13.1 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
- Finn Allen (San Francisco Unicorns) scored the fastest century (off 34 balls) in Major League Cricket and also the second-fastest in any franchise T20 league, behind Chris Gayle's 30-ball century against Pune Warriors India in IPL 2013.[18]
- Finn Allen scored the highest number of sixes (19) in innings breaking the record of Chris Gayle (18) in T20s.[19]
- Finn Allen scored the fastest 150 (off 49 balls) in T20s, breaking the record of Dewald Brevis 150 (off 52 balls) against Knights.[20]
Texas Super Kings 185/6 (20 overs) |
v |
MI New York 182/8 (20 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
- Adam Milne (Texas Super Kings) played his 200th T20 match.
San Francisco Unicorns 219/8 (20 overs) |
v |
Los Angeles Knight Riders 187 (19.5 overs) |
- Los Angeles Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field.
- Matthew Tromp (Los Angeles Knight Riders) made his T20 debut.
Seattle Orcas 145/9 (20 overs) |
v |
Washington Freedom 149/5 (13.3 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to bat.
Texas Super Kings 181/4 (20 overs) |
v |
Los Angeles Knight Riders 124 (17.1 overs) |
- Los Angeles Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field.
MI New York 182/7 (20 overs) |
v |
San Francisco Unicorns 188/7 (19.1 overs) |
- San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to field.
- Nicholas Pooran (MI New York) played his 400th match in T20s.
Texas Super Kings 153/6 (20 overs) |
v |
Seattle Orcas 60 (13.5 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field.
Washington Freedom 208/5 (20 overs) |
v |
Los Angeles Knight Riders 95 (16.3 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to bat.
Seattle Orcas 200/5 (20 overs) |
v |
MI New York 203/3 (19 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to bat.
Texas Super Kings 198/5 (20 overs) |
v |
San Francisco Unicorns 202/3 (16.1 overs) |
- San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to field.
MI New York 188/4 (20 overs) |
v |
Washington Freedom 189/8 (19.2 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
Seattle Orcas 177/6 (20 overs) |
v |
Los Angeles Knight Riders 178/4 (18.2 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to bat.
Texas Super Kings 220/6 (20 overs) |
v |
Washington Freedom 223/3 (19.4 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
- Andries Gous (Washington Freedom) played his 100th T20 match.
San Francisco Unicorns 246/4 (20 overs) |
v |
MI New York 199/6 (20 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
- Kieron Pollard (MI New York) played his 700th match in T20s.[21]
Texas Super Kings 196/8 (20 overs) |
v |
Los Angeles Knight Riders 144/7 (20 overs) |
- Los Angeles Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field.
San Francisco Unicorns 176/8 (20 overs) |
v |
Seattle Orcas 144 (18.2 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field.
Los Angeles Knight Riders 213/4 (20 overs) |
v |
Washington Freedom 214/5 (20 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
- Andre Fletcher and Sherfane Rutherford (Los Angeles Knight Riders) both scored their 8,000th and 3,000th run respectively in T20s.
MI New York 237/4 (20 overs) |
v |
Seattle Orcas 238/7 (20 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field.
Washington Freedom 169/6 (20 overs) |
v |
San Francisco Unicorns 157/9 (20 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to bat.
- Mitchell Owen (Washington Freedom) took his first five-wicket haul in T20s.[22]
Los Angeles Knight Riders 202/4 (20 overs) |
v |
Seattle Orcas 206/5 (19.5 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field.
Texas Super Kings 223/4 (20 overs) |
v |
MI New York 184/8 (20 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
San Francisco Unicorns 168/5 (20 overs) |
v |
Seattle Orcas 169/6 (19.3 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field.
Texas Super Kings 87/2 (5 overs) |
v |
Washington Freedom 44/4 (5 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
- The match was reduced to 5 overs per side due to rain.
Los Angeles Knight Riders 154/8 (20 overs) |
v |
MI New York 155/2 (17.5 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
San Francisco Unicorns 148/6 (20 overs) |
v |
Texas Super Kings 147/7 (20 overs) |
- Texas Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
- Akeal Hosein (Texas Super Kings) took his 200th wicket in T20s.
Seattle Orcas 82 (17.4 overs) |
v |
Washington Freedom 86/2 (9.2 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won toss and elected to field.
MI New York 142/9 (20 overs) |
v |
Los Angeles Knight Riders 135/4 (20 overs) |
- Los Angeles Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field.
Texas Super Kings 188/4 (20 overs) |
v |
Seattle Orcas 137 (18.4 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field.
MI New York 112/8 (18 overs) |
v |
Washington Freedom 113/4 (15 overs) |
Kunwarjeet Singh 33 (30) Glenn Maxwell 3/29 (4 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to bat.
- The match was reduced to 18 overs per side due to rain.
Los Angeles Knight Riders 243/3 (19 overs) |
v |
San Francisco Unicorns 233 (18.5 overs) |
Sanjay Krishnamurthi 92 (40) Karthik Gattepalli 3/31 (4 overs) |
- San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to field.
- The match was reduced to 19 overs per side due to rain.
- Adithya Ganesh and Karthik Gattepalli (Los Angeles Knight Riders) both made their T20 debuts.
- San Francisco Unicorns were set a revised target of 245 runs off 19 overs due to rain.
Play-offs
| Qualifier | Challenger | Final | |||||||||||
| July 8, 2025 – Grand Prairie | July 13, 2025 – Grand Prairie | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Washington Freedom | Rainout (NR) | QW | Washington Freedom | 175/5 (20 overs) | ||||||||
| 2 | Texas Super Kings | Rainout (NR) | July 11, 2025 – Grand Prairie | CW | MI New York | 180/7 (20 overs) | |||||||
| QL | Texas Super Kings | 166/5 (20 overs) | |||||||||||
| Eliminator | EW | MI New York | 172/3 (19 overs) | ||||||||||
| July 9, 2025 – Grand Prairie | |||||||||||||
| 3 | San Francisco Unicorns | 131 (19.1 overs) | |||||||||||
| 4 | MI New York | 132/8 (19.3 overs) | |||||||||||
Qualifier
v |
||
Eliminator
San Francisco Unicorns 131 (19.1 overs) |
v |
MI New York 132/8 (19.3 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
Challenger
Texas Super Kings 166/5 (20 overs) |
v |
MI New York 172/3 (19 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
Final
MI New York 180/7 (20 overs) |
v |
Washington Freedom 175/5 (20 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
Season statistics and awards
Most runs
| Runs | Player | Team | Inns | HS | SR | Ave |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 478 | Monank Patel | MI New York | 13 | 93 | 142.26 | 36.76 |
| 468 | Faf du Plessis | Texas Super Kings | 10 | 103* | 170.18 | 52.00 |
| 373 | Quinton de Kock | MI New York | 12 | 77 | 142.91 | 31.08 |
| 369 | Matthew Short | San Francisco Unicorns | 8 | 91 | 164.38 | 45.00 |
| 360 | Nicholas Pooran | MI New York | 13 | 108* | 134.83 | 36.00 |
- Source: ESPNcricinfo
Most wickets
| Wkts | Player | Team | Inns | Ovs | BBI | Eco |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Xavier Bartlett | San Francisco Unicorns | 11 | 40.1 | 4/28 | 8.86 |
| 17 | Haris Rauf | San Francisco Unicorns | 8 | 28.1 | 4/32 | 9.08 |
| 15 | Trent Boult | MI New York | 12 | 48.0 | 4/17 | 8.00 |
| 15 | Noor Ahmad | Texas Super Kings | 11 | 42.0 | 4/25 | 8.04 |
| 14 | Adam Milne | Texas Super Kings | 6 | 20.5 | 5/23 | 7.10 |
- Source: ESPNcricinfo
End of season awards
- Highest Wicket Taker of the Tournament: Xavier Bartlett
- Most Valuable Player of the Tournament: Mitchell Owen
- Domestic Player of the Tournament: Monank Patel
- Most Valuable Player and the Best U23 Player of the Tournament: Rushil Ugarkar
Broadcasting
| Country/Sub-region | Rights holder(s) |
|---|---|
| North America | Willow |
| Northern California | NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports California (SFU matches only)[26] |
| Caribbean | ESPN |
| United Kingdom | Premier Sports |
| Middle East | Cricbuzz |
| North Africa | Cricbuzz |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | ESPN |
| India | Star Sports, JioHotstar |
| Pakistan | A Sports |
| Australia | Seven |
| New Zealand | Sky NZ |
Notes
- Replaced by Matthew Short midseason due to injury
- Heinrich Klaasen stepped down as captain mid season[10]
- Matthew Mott parted ways as coach mid season[10]
- Steve Smith will captain the side in the two games he plays