Washington Freedom produced a record-breaking batting display to defeat MI New York by six wickets in Eliminator 1 of Major League Cricket 2026, successfully chasing 267 in Oakland.
Andries Gous smashed 132, while Steven Smith remained unbeaten on 110 as Freedom reached 270/4 with eight balls remaining. Their extraordinary partnership overshadowed Nicholas Pooran’s 31-ball century, the fastest in MLC history.
The victory sends Washington Freedom into Eliminator 2, where they will face San Francisco Unicorns. The winner will meet LA Knight Riders in the final.
Pooran Leads MI New York to 266
MI New York posted 266/9 after a spectacular innings led by Pooran, who raced to his century from only 31 deliveries.
Quinton de Kock contributed 51, while Kieron Pollard struck 64 from 25 balls and became only the second player after Chris Gayle to hit 1,000 sixes in T20 cricket.
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MI New York were 211/3 after 13 overs and appeared capable of approaching 300. However, Rachin Ravindra changed the course of the innings with an excellent spell at the death.
The left-arm spinner bowled the 14th, 16th, 18th and 20th overs, finishing with 4/29. Despite Trent Boult hitting two sixes and a four from the final three balls, Ravindra’s wickets prevented MI New York from finishing with an even bigger total.
Shakib Strikes Before Gous and Smith Take Control
Washington Freedom’s chase began poorly when Shakib Al Hasan removed two batters in his first three overs, reducing them to 10/2.
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Gous and Smith then completely transformed the match. Both reached their centuries from 40 balls as they shared a remarkable 241-run partnership from 89 deliveries for the third wicket.
The stand became the highest partnership in a T20 chase and the joint second-highest partnership for any wicket in men’s T20 cricket.
MI New York’s fielding also proved costly. Four catches were dropped and a run-out opportunity was missed during a crucial four-over period.
Gous accelerated dramatically in the 13th over, taking Romario Shepherd for four sixes and a four in a 29-run over. Freedom then scored 21 from Pollard’s next over and 31 from Tajinder Singh’s over.
During that assault, Gous became the first USA batter to score a century in Major League Cricket.
Freedom needed only 42 runs from the final five overs and completed the chase despite losing Gous and Nikhil Chaudhary near the finish.
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Records Fall in Oakland Run Fest
The match produced several historic numbers, beginning with Freedom’s successful chase of 267, the highest in T20 history. It surpassed Punjab Kings’ chase of 265 against Delhi Capitals earlier in 2026.
Freedom’s 270/4 was also the highest total in MLC history and the biggest score by any team in a men’s T20 knockout match.
A record 51 sixes were hit across the game, breaking the previous T20 record of 42. MI New York struck 29 sixes in their innings alone, the joint second-highest by a team in a T20 match.
Pooran, Gous and Smith also made the contest the first T20 match to feature three individual centuries. Gous and Smith became only the second pair of batters to score hundreds in the same T20 chase.
The match aggregate of 536 runs was the second-highest in T20 history, behind the 549 scored in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru-Sunrisers Hyderabad match in IPL 2024.
Pooran and Pollard Reach Major Milestones
Pooran’s 31-ball hundred bettered Finn Allen’s previous MLC record of 34 balls. It was also the fastest century in a T20 knockout match and the second-fastest in franchise cricket, behind Chris Gayle’s 30-ball hundred in IPL 2013.
He reached his half-century from only 14 balls, another MLC record. Pollard followed with a 17-ball fifty, while Smith reached the landmark in 19 deliveries.
Pollard finished the match with 1,001 T20 sixes, joining Gayle as the only players to cross the four-figure mark.
Despite those extraordinary performances, Gous and Smith ensured the night belonged to Washington Freedom, completing a chase that will be remembered as one of the greatest batting achievements in T20 history.
