Washington Freedom captain Steve Smith scored his fastest-ever T20 century off 40 balls in record win over MI New York in MLC 2026 match.
Published: July 16, 2026, 1:24 PM IST
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Washington Freedom captain Steve Smith en route to scoring century vs MI New York in MLC 2026 match. (Source: X)
MINY vs WAF MLC 2026: Washington Freedom rewrote T20 history with their sensational six-wicket win over Nita Ambani’s MI New York in a Major League Cricket (MLC) 2026 match at Oakland Coliseum on Wednesday. Freedom managed to hunt down a record target of 267 to win with 8 balls to spare to break the record held by Preity Zinta’s Punjab Kings team in the Indian Premier League.
The game featured record 51 sixes in nearly 40 overs as Nicholas Pooran’s brilliant hundred was trumped by Steve Smith’s fastest-ever T20 ton and Andries Gous becoming the first American batter to hit a century in MLC history. Gous and Smith put on record 241 runs in only 89 balls to set up the stunning win.
Former Australia opener and Freedom captain Smith smashed 9 sixes and 7 fours in his unbeaten 110 off only 48 balls, bring up his ton off only 40 balls. Washington side’s wicketkeeper Gous was even more brutal with 132 in 51 balls with 12 sixes and 10 fours.
WATCH Steve Smith complete fastest-ever T20 century vs MI New York HERE…
FASTEST T20 CENTURY FOR STEVEN SMITH. pic.twitter.com/xu6QlfM052
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 16, 2026
Freedom broke the record of Shreyas Iyer’s PBKS for the biggest-ever successful run-chase in T20 history. The Punjab franchise had chased down Delhi Capitals scored of 264 in IPL 2026 match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi earlier this year.
“From ball one, he (Andries Gous) just came out and felt like he didn’t miss the middle of the bat the whole night. And everything just kept flying over the rope. I had the best seat in the house up there. And yeah, it was a wonderful win,” Washington Freedom captain Steve Smith said after the win.
“Obviously, 260, chasing that down. A lot’s got to go right. We obviously got off to a little bit of a shaky start. And then the ball just started to hit the middle of both of our bats. And, yeah, fortunately, they kept going over the rope. And we gave ourselves a chance at the back end and tried to keep the rate around 14, knowing two good hits an over, and you’re on the right path. So, worked out nicely,” Smith added.
Smith and Gous partnership of 241 runs is the highest for the third wicket in T20 cricket, breaking the record of 213-run stand between Mumbai batters Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav against Sikkim in Indore in 2019.
Earlier, MI New York had posted an impressive total of 266 for 9 with West Indies and Lucknow Super Giants batter Nicholas Pooran smashing 13 sixes and 5 fours in his knock of 106 in 33 balls. MINY opener Quinton de Kock chipped in with 51 in 24 balls with 6 sixes and 2 fours while former West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard smashed 64 in 25 balls with 8 sixes and 1 four.
