231/6 (20.0)
CR : 11.55
238/6 (20.0)
CR : 11.90
Washington Freedom won by 7 runs 🏆
Player of the Match
Andries Gous
73(40)
Highest Individual Score for Matt Short in T20s:
121* (San Francisco Unicorns) vs Washington Freedom, Oakland, 2026*
109 (Adelaide Strikers) vs Brisbane Heat, Adelaide, 2025
100* (Adelaide Strikers) vs Hobart Hurricanes, Adelaide, 2023
121* (San Francisco Unicorns) vs Washington Freedom, Oakland, 2026*
109 (Adelaide Strikers) vs Brisbane Heat, Adelaide, 2025
100* (Adelaide Strikers) vs Hobart Hurricanes, Adelaide, 2023
Matthew Short (San Francisco Unicorns Captain): "[On the loss] Yeah, pretty disappointing couple of days. We were fortunate enough to come here with a second chance. We probably got ourselves in a position to win both games. However, to lose both games in the same fashion is pretty disappointing.
[Was the target out of their reach?] Umm, probably not after watching last night's game. You believe that anything is possible here with the shorter boundaries. Honestly, the conditions were in our favour. Obviously it was a big score to chase and couldn't get through in the end.
[On the whole season] It has been pretty special. Not just to make the finals, but to make them in front of our home crowd at the Oakland Coliseum. Thank you for all the support tonight and it was really cool to have you here tonight and hopefully we were able to put on a show for you today."
[Was the target out of their reach?] Umm, probably not after watching last night's game. You believe that anything is possible here with the shorter boundaries. Honestly, the conditions were in our favour. Obviously it was a big score to chase and couldn't get through in the end.
[On the whole season] It has been pretty special. Not just to make the finals, but to make them in front of our home crowd at the Oakland Coliseum. Thank you for all the support tonight and it was really cool to have you here tonight and hopefully we were able to put on a show for you today."
Power Hitter of the Day: Andries Gous
Play of the Day: Saurabh Netravalkar
Player of the Match: Andries Gous
Andries Gous (POTM): "[Where does all the motivation come from?] Yeah for me personally, I genuinely love this team. I want to do well for everyone; I want to do well for the coaches. This team is truly close to my heart. That is probably where all my motivation comes from.
[Did he plan to slow down after Rachin Ravindra got out?] Not really, we knew how the wicket will play at night. You got to keep pressing and putting them under pressure and lucky it came off today again.
[What does it mean to make it to the finals?] It is always nice playing finals. It is our third one. Hopefully we can go one step ahead and lift the trophy this time around.
[On missing the run out] It obviously feels like you have dropped the whole tournament at that moment. Our owners might have had a heart attack there but luckily it worked out."
[Did he plan to slow down after Rachin Ravindra got out?] Not really, we knew how the wicket will play at night. You got to keep pressing and putting them under pressure and lucky it came off today again.
[What does it mean to make it to the finals?] It is always nice playing finals. It is our third one. Hopefully we can go one step ahead and lift the trophy this time around.
[On missing the run out] It obviously feels like you have dropped the whole tournament at that moment. Our owners might have had a heart attack there but luckily it worked out."
Steve Smith (Washington Freedom Captain): [how is he feeling] "Tired. I'm looking forward to a rest tomorrow before we go again. We did a great job defending out there and it got a little bit wet, the outfield and it was skidding on. It was a hell of an effort. Saurabh's second last over was as good as I've seen in T20. Bowled 6 yorkers and nailed every one of them. He deserves a lot of credit for that.
[on the chat with Saurabh before the 19th over] The first ball was always going to be a yorker and then we decided from there. We talked about slow and wide. I was just saying to go to the hole again. You nailed it and might as well keep going and he did such a great job.
[on consistency] It's just a great franchise to be involved in. We all enjoy each other's company. It's been a great 3 years. Big final in 2 days time and hopefully we can lift the trophy again.
[is it harder than Test cricket] It's tough captaining when the ball is flying around like it is. Takes a lot of thinking but it's been good fun.
[is Ponting okay?] He's good. I think the owner might have had a heart attack."
[on the chat with Saurabh before the 19th over] The first ball was always going to be a yorker and then we decided from there. We talked about slow and wide. I was just saying to go to the hole again. You nailed it and might as well keep going and he did such a great job.
[on consistency] It's just a great franchise to be involved in. We all enjoy each other's company. It's been a great 3 years. Big final in 2 days time and hopefully we can lift the trophy again.
[is it harder than Test cricket] It's tough captaining when the ball is flying around like it is. Takes a lot of thinking but it's been good fun.
[is Ponting okay?] He's good. I think the owner might have had a heart attack."
Highest Individual Scores in Major League Cricket:
155 – Mitchell Owen (Washington Freedom) vs MI New York, Dallas, 2026
151 – Finn Allen (San Francisco Unicorns) vs Washington Freedom, Oakland, 2025
137* – Nicholas Pooran (MI New York) vs Seattle Orcas, Dallas, 2023
132 - Andries Gous (Washington Freedom) vs MI New York, Oakland, 2026
121* – Matt Short (San Francisco Unicorns) vs Washington Freedom, Oakland, 2026*
155 – Mitchell Owen (Washington Freedom) vs MI New York, Dallas, 2026
151 – Finn Allen (San Francisco Unicorns) vs Washington Freedom, Oakland, 2025
137* – Nicholas Pooran (MI New York) vs Seattle Orcas, Dallas, 2023
132 - Andries Gous (Washington Freedom) vs MI New York, Oakland, 2026
121* – Matt Short (San Francisco Unicorns) vs Washington Freedom, Oakland, 2026*
Highest Match Aggregates in MLC:
536 - Washington Freedom vs MI New York, Oakland, 2026
476 - Los Angeles Knight Riders vs San Francisco Unicorns, Lauderhill, 2025
475 - MI New York vs Seattle Orcas, Dallas, 2025
469 - San Francisco Unicorns vs Washington Freedom, Oakland, 2026*
460 - MI New York vs Washington Freedom, Dallas, 2026
536 - Washington Freedom vs MI New York, Oakland, 2026
476 - Los Angeles Knight Riders vs San Francisco Unicorns, Lauderhill, 2025
475 - MI New York vs Seattle Orcas, Dallas, 2025
469 - San Francisco Unicorns vs Washington Freedom, Oakland, 2026*
460 - MI New York vs Washington Freedom, Dallas, 2026
3rd final in 4 seasons for the Washington Freedom! Excellent captaincy from Steve Smith in crunch situations, everyone delivering under pressure. Truly a collective effort in the Eliminator and the Challenger to get through to the grand finale. If the batters did the majority of the job yesterday, it was time for the bowling unit to prove their brilliance tonight. Los Angeles Knight Riders will have to put their guards up against a solid and in-form Freedom side which has all the momentum with them.
That ends our coverage for the Challenger. Ninaad Dixit here, signing off on behalf of my co-commentators Manan Mehta & Karthik Raj and scorer/analyst Dushyant Madhukar Kumar. Stay tuned for more cricketing action from around the world!
That ends our coverage for the Challenger. Ninaad Dixit here, signing off on behalf of my co-commentators Manan Mehta & Karthik Raj and scorer/analyst Dushyant Madhukar Kumar. Stay tuned for more cricketing action from around the world!