MLC Top 5 | Week #5 Cognizant Major League Cricket 2026, Presented by VTEX

The top 5 moments from week five of MLC 2026 presented by VTEX 🏆 5️⃣ 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐮𝐬' 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 🍎 Andries Gous was a serious threat to the LA Knight Riders after having smashed a spectacular century the night before, but Jason Holder had other plans. Andre Russell took the catch that dismissed Gous and celebrated in a truly unique fashion. 4️⃣ 𝐒𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐯𝐬 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭-𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 ⚡ The pendulum swung back and forth throughout this entire match and seemed to lean in favor of the Unicorns going into the last over thanks to Matt Short’s exquisite batting performance. 22 runs off the last six balls was steep, but still possible. However, that all changed when the skipper found himself on the non-striking end after an ill-placed single. A stark momentum shift, Xavier Bartlett couldn’t get the needed 9 runs off the last two balls and WF progressed to the Championship final. 3️⃣ 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐲 ☄️ The SFU captain delivered his best batting performance of the season, smashing a spectacular 121* runs off 56 balls. Short struck 8 sixes and 11 fours, and ended with a strike rate of 216.07. 2️⃣ 𝐎𝐚𝐤𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐦 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 💯 Wednesday’s match between the Washington Freedom and MI New York yielded record-breaking batting performances from Nicholas Pooran (c), Andries Gous, and Steve Smith (c). First, Pooran broke Finn Allen’s prior record for fastest century with 100 off 31 balls and closed out his batting campaign with 106 (33), accounting for 13 of MINY’s 29 sixes. Gous & Smith answered with a partnership that racked up a record-breaking 241 runs, set the highest total ever in MLC history, showcased the highest successful run chase in all of T20 cricket history, and Gous became the first American batter to break triple digits in MLC. 1️⃣ 𝐋𝐨𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐧 ⚔️ Arguably the most thrilling MLC Championship final ever, the Los Angeles Knight Riders held their nerve when it seemed l