Major League Cricket (MLC) 2026’s league stage is officially done and dusted and the hunt for the title is in its most thrilling phase. San Francisco Unicorns, Los Angeles Knight Riders, Washington Freedom and MI New York have already booked their spots in the playoffs with four games left to be played for the new MLC champions after weeks of blockbuster encounters.
San Francisco Unicorns finished at the top of the standings after a dominant league campaign and earned the valuable advantage of playing in the Qualifier. Joining them in the top two are Los Angeles Knight Riders, who sealed second place with a strong finish to the league stage. Washington Freedom and MI New York, meanwhile, will battle it out in a do-or-die Eliminator.
Major League Cricket 2026 Playoff Schedule (IST)
Qualifier
San Francisco Unicorns vs Los Angeles Knight Riders
Date: Thursday, July 16 – 3:00 AM IST
Eliminator
Washington Freedom vs MI New York
Date: Thursday, July 16 – 7:00 AM IST
Challenger
Loser of Qualifier vs Winner of Eliminator
Date: Friday, July 17 – 7:00 AM IST
Final
Winner of Qualifier vs Winner of Challenger
Date: Sunday, July 19 – 6:00 AM IST
Qualified Teams
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San Francisco Unicorns (1st)
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Los Angeles Knight Riders (2nd)
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Washington Freedom (3rd)
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MI New York (4th)
How Does The MLC Playoff Format Work?
Major League Cricket follows the Page Playoff format, rewarding the top two teams with an extra chance to reach the final. The winner of the Qualifier advances directly to the title clash, while the losing side gets another opportunity by facing the winner of the Eliminator in the Challenger. The Eliminator is a knockout fixture, meaning the losing team is immediately eliminated from the competition.
Venue
All four playoff matches, including the Qualifier, Eliminator, Challenger and the Final, will be played at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California, marking the venue’s first time hosting the MLC playoffs and championship match.
Where To Watch MLC 2026 Playoffs Live?
Indian cricket fans can watch the live telecast of each MLC 2026 playoff match on the Star Sports Network, while live streaming will be available on the JioHotstar app and website. In the United States, all the action will be shown live on Willow TV.
ALL Qualified Teams Squads
San Francisco Unicorns Squad: Lhuan-dre Pretorius(w), Finn Allen, Matthew Short(c), Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Aaron Hardie, Hassan Khan, Saideep Ganesh, Aakarshit Gomel, Brody Couch, Xavier Bartlett, Peter Siddle, Hammad Azam, Zia-ul-Haq, Ghulam Mudassar, Mohammad Ilyas, Haris Rauf, Cooper Connolly, Connor Esterhuizen, Stephen Wiig, Oliver Peake, Juanoy Drysdale, Anirudh Immanuel
Los Angeles Knight Riders Squad: Colin Munro, Andre Fletcher, Matthew Tromp, Rovman Powell, Andre Russell, Jason Holder(c), Saif Badar, Jahmar Hamilton(w), Sunil Narine, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Nitish Kumar, Alex Hales, Unmukt Chand, Fabian Allen, Carmi le Roux, Kristopher Ramsaran, Lloyd Pope, Karthik Gattepalli
Washington Freedom Squad: Steven Smith(c), Mitchell Owen, Rachin Ravindra, Andries Gous(w), Lahiru Milantha, Nikhil Chaudhary, Marco Jansen, Ben Dwarshuis, Obus Pienaar, Ian Holland, Saurabh Netravalkar, Jack Edwards, Glenn Maxwell, Amila Aponso, Mukhtar Ahmed, Lockie Ferguson, Abhishek Paradkar, Yasir Mohammad, Asif Mehmood
MI New York Squad: Monank Patel, Ryan Rickelton(w), Nicholas Pooran, Shakib Al Hasan, Kieron Pollard(c), Corey Anderson, Tajinder Dhillon, Romario Shepherd, Trent Boult, Rushil Ugarkar, Faisal Khan Ahmadzai, Quinton de Kock, Sunny Patel, Nosthush Kenjige, Agni Chopra, Kunwarjeet Singh, Tristan Luus
