Washington Freedom made history with a record-breaking six-wicket win against MI New York in Eliminator 1 of the MLC 2026 season at Oakland on July 15. Defending an enormous total of 267 runs, Washington Freedom managed to make 270 for the loss of 4 wickets in only 18.4 overs, thus making a world record run-chase in men’s T20 cricket.

After MI New York scored an incredible aggregate of 266/9 in their 20 overs, the team seemed to have everything under control. It was captain Nicholas Pooran who took center stage with his remarkable 106 runs from 31 balls and became the fastest hundred in the history of Major League Cricket. Experienced all-rounder Kieron Pollard scored 64 runs in just 25 balls, while Quinton de Kock scored 51 runs opening the inning. It seemed like the batting trio would take their team to more than 290 runs.

Rachin Ravindra contributed significantly with the ball for the team of Washington Freedom, having excellent numbers in the form of 4/29. The wickets that he took at the end were effective for slowing down the run rate of MI New York and ensured that they had a reachable target, regardless of their explosive batting.

Washington Freedom started off in catastrophic fashion by losing two wickets in the beginning and found themselves in a position of 10/2. Nevertheless, Andries Gous and Steven Smith made one of the finest partnerships that the game of T20 cricket has ever seen. They made an amazing total of 241 runs from just 89 balls for the third wicket.

Gous batted as he had never batted before in his career and scored 132 runs in just 51 deliveries, with a century coming in 40 deliveries. He entertained the fans with a number of huge sixes and boundaries in the process. The amazing innings also made him the first USA batsman to notch a hundred run-score in Major League Cricket. On the other hand, Steven Smith supported the attacking batting style and scored an unbeatable 110 runs in just 40 deliveries too.

Washington Freedom was in total control in the middle overs when Gous unleashed an incredible assault on the bowlers, taking four sixes in an over. MI New York’s poor fielding was another contributing factor in helping these two batsmen to post an amazing partnership for their team.

There were various reasons why the game was included in the history book. Firstly, it turned out to be the first game of T20 cricket in which three centuries were scored by individual players, with a total of 51 sixes hitting the ground in both innings of the game. Washington Freedom also set a world record in terms of the successful chasing of 267 runs.

Thanks to this exciting win, Washington Freedom will play against San Francisco Unicorns in Eliminator 2 in order to qualify for the finals of MLC 2026 against LA Knight Riders. This game in Oakland can become one of the best games of T20 cricket, thanks to the winning century scored by Andries Gous and his amazing batting partnership with Steven Smith.