MLC 2026 SFU vs WAF Highlights: Steve Smith-led Washington Freedom secured a 7-run victory against Matthew Short-led San Francisco Unicorns in the challengers of the MLC 2026 at Oakland Coliseum, Oakland.
| Tournament | Major League Cricket 2026 |
| Team | San Francisco Unicorns vs Washington Freedom, Challenger |
| Date | Friday, July 17, 2026 |
| Toss | San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and opted to bowl |
| Venue | Oakland Coliseum, Oakland |
| Result | Washington Freedom won by 7 runs |
| Points Table | MLC 2026 Points Table, Team Standing, NRR and Points |
MLC 2026 SFU vs WAF Playing 11
San Francisco Unicorns
Washington Freedom
Steven Smith(c), Mitchell Owen, Rachin Ravindra, Andries Gous(w), Glenn Maxwell, Nikhil Chaudhary, Ben Dwarshuis, Obus Pienaar, Ian Holland, Asif Mehmood, Saurabh Netravalkar
MLC 2026 SFU vs WAF Scoreboard
| Team | Score |
| Washington Freedom | 238-6 (20 ov) |
| San Francisco Unicorns | 231-6 (20 ov) |
MLC 2026 SFU vs WAF Scorecard
Washington Freedom Batting
| Batting | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | |
| Mitchell Owen | b Hassan Khan | 42 | 19 | 29 | 2 | 5 | 221.05 |
| Steven Smith (c) | c †Pretorius b Bartlett | 43 | 20 | 34 | 4 | 3 | 215 |
| Rachin Ravindra | c Hardie b Ghulam Mudassar | 28 | 14 | 27 | 1 | 3 | 200 |
| Andries Gous † | c Hardie b Bartlett | 73 | 40 | 66 | 8 | 3 | 182.5 |
| Glenn Maxwell | c Haris Rauf b Ghulam Mudassar | 13 | 10 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 130 |
| Nikhil Chaudhary | not out | 20 | 13 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 153.84 |
| Ben Dwarshuis | c Krishnamurthi b Bartlett | 11 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 275 |
San Francisco Unicorns Bowling
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | WD | NB |
| Xavier Bartlett | 4 | 0 | 36 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Brody Couch | 4 | 0 | 52 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Ghulam Mudassar | 4 | 0 | 32 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Haris Rauf | 4 | 0 | 52 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Hassan Khan | 3 | 0 | 50 | 1 | 16.66 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Matthew Short | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
San Francisco Unicorns Batting
| Batting | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | |
| Lhuan-dre Pretorius † | c Pienaar b Dwarshuis | 18 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 180 |
| Finn Allen | c Smith b Netravalkar | 14 | 9 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 155.55 |
| Matthew Short (c) | not out | 121 | 56 | 93 | 11 | 8 | 216.07 |
| Sanjay Krishnamurthi | c Chaudhary b Owen | 10 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 142.85 |
| Aaron Hardie | lbw b Ravindra | 3 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| Hassan Khan | c Smith b Chaudhary | 21 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 131.25 |
| Hammad Azam | c Chaudhary b Dwarshuis | 7 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 116.66 |
| Xavier Bartlett | not out | 28 | 13 | 26 | 0 | 3 | 215.38 |
Washington Freedom Bowling
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | WD | NB |
| Saurabh Netravalkar | 4 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 8.75 | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| Ben Dwarshuis | 4 | 0 | 44 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Asif Mehmood | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mitchell Owen | 4 | 0 | 57 | 1 | 14.25 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Ian Holland | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Rachin Ravindra | 2 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 13.5 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Nikhil Chaudhary | 3 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 10.66 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
MLC 2026 SFU vs WAF Highlights
To Watch MLC 2026 SFU vs WAF Highlights Click >> HERE
Player of the Match
Andries Gous | Washington Freedom
I genuinely love this team. I want to do well for our owner, do well for our coaches. The team is close to my heart and that’s where all the motivation comes from. We know the wicket – how it’s going to play at night.
Got to keep pressing and putting them under pressure. Always nice playing finals. Our third one now. Hopefully we can go one step further than last year and win it again. Obviously feels like you have dropped the whole tournament in that moment. Our owner nearly had a heart attack there. Luckily it worked out.
