MLC 2026: Smith’s innings overshadowed Puran’s century, Washington Freedom created T20 history; Achieved the biggest goal

In this high-scoring match played in Oakland, MI New York, batting first, scored 266 runs in 20 overs. The foundation of this score was laid by captain Nicholas Pooran, who scored a century in just 31 balls. It also became the fastest century in the history of Major League Cricket. Along with Puran’s stormy innings, experienced all-rounder Kieron Pollard also took the team to a strong score by scoring 64 runs in 25 balls.

Washington Freedom made the most successful run chase in T20
Washington Freedom, which came out to chase the huge target of 267 runs, had a very bad start. The team had lost two wickets for just 10 runs. After this, captain Steve Smith and Andreas Gaus completely changed the course of the match. Both the batsmen destroyed the MI New York bowlers by making a record partnership of 241 runs in just 89 balls for the third wicket.

Smith scored 110 runs in 48 balls
Smith scored unbeaten 110 runs in 48 balls. His innings included 7 fours and 9 brilliant sixes. Gaus scored 132 runs in just 51 balls, which included 10 fours and 12 sixes. On the basis of aggressive batting of both, Washington achieved the target in just 18.4 overs.

With this victory, Washington Freedom also broke the record of Indian Premier League team Punjab Kings. Punjab had successfully chased the target of 266 runs against Delhi Capitals in IPL 2026, while in 2024 they had achieved the target of 262 runs. Now the new record of the biggest successful run chase in T20 cricket has been registered in the name of Washington Freedom.

Pollard completed thousand sixes in T20
Another big record in the match was also registered in the name of Kieran Pollard. He hit 8 sixes during his innings and became the second batsman in the world to complete 1000 sixes in T20 cricket. In this matter, only Chris Gayle is ahead of him. Recently, Pollard has also left Gayle behind in terms of scoring the most runs in T20 cricket.

Now Washington Freedom will face San Francisco Unicorns in the challenger match. The winning team of this match will face Los Angeles Knight Riders in the final to be held on July 18.