Smith-Pooran showdown: Record breaking MLC game creates unique T20 history with … | Cricket News

Three batters scored centuries in the same men’s T20 match for the first time as Washington Freedom completed the highest successful chase in T20 history, beating defending champions MI New York by six wickets in Eliminator 1 of MLC 2026 at the Oakland Coliseum on Tuesday.Nicholas Pooran, Andries Gous and Steven Smith all reached three figures in a game that rewrote multiple T20 records. While Pooran smashed a 31-ball hundred — the fastest century in Major League Cricket history — Gous and Smith responded with 40-ball hundreds each as Freedom chased down 267 to seal a place in Eliminator 2, where they will face San Francisco Unicorns. The winner will meet LA Knight Riders in the MLC 2026 final.For much of the evening, MI New York looked set to win after Pooran and Kieron Pollard dominated the Freedom attack. Pollard also crossed 1,000 sixes in T20 cricket during his 25-ball 64, while Pooran tore into the bowling to put his side in complete control.The game, however, turned after Rachin Ravindra’s spell with the ball. Introduced when MI New York were 211 for 3 after 13 overs, Ravindra returned figures of 4 for 28 despite bowling only the 14th, 16th, 18th and 20th overs. His wickets slowed the scoring as MI New York finished on 266 for 9 instead of posting an even bigger total.Washington Freedom’s chase got off to a poor start as Shakib Al Hasan struck twice with the new ball in his first two overs, reducing them to 10 for 2. From there, Gous and Smith took control.The pair matched each other shot for shot, adding 241 runs for the third wicket in just 89 balls, the joint second-highest partnership for any wicket in men’s T20 cricket. Both reached their centuries in 40 balls.Freedom eventually completed the chase of 267, the highest successful run chase in T20 history, surpassing Punjab Kings’ chase of 265 against Delhi Capitals in the IPL earlier this year.The match also became the first men’s T20 game to feature three individual centuries. Gous and Smith’s hundreds in the chase made it only the second instance of two batters scoring centuries while chasing in a T20 match. Pooran and Smith also became only the fourth pair of captains to score hundreds in the same men’s T20 game.