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

Three batsmen scored centuries in the same men’s T20 match for the first time as the Washington Freedom completed the highest run chase in T20 history by beating defending champions MI New York by six wickets in MLC 2026 Eliminator 1 at the Oakland Coliseum on Tuesday.Nicholas Pooran, Andries Gous and Steven Smith reached three figures in a game that broke several T20 records. While Pooran smashed a 31-ball hundred – the fastest century in Major League Cricket history – Gous and Smith each responded with hundreds off 40 balls as Freedom chased down 267 to book a place in Eliminator 2 to face the San Francisco Unicorns. The winner will face the LA Knight Riders in the MLC 2026 finals.MI New York looked set for victory for most of the evening 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 bowled to put his side completely in control.However, the game 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 only playing the 14th, 16th, 18th and 20th overs. His wickets slowed down the scoring as MI New York finished at 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 to reduce them to 10 for 2. From there, Gous and Smith took control.The pair matched each other blow for blow, 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 ended up completing a chase of 267, the highest successful run 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. Gouse and Smith’s hundreds in the chase made it only the second instance of two batsmen scoring a century in a chase 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.