Three batsmen scored hundreds in the same men’s T20 match for the first time as Washington Freedom completed the most successful chase in T20 history to defeat defending champions MI New York by 6 wickets in the MLC 2026 Eliminator Match 1 at the Auckland Stadium on Tuesday.Nicholas Pooran, Andries Gous and Steven Smith all reached three figures in a match, rewriting several T20 records. While Pooran hit a 31-ball hundred – the fastest century in Major League Cricket history – Guth and Smith responded with 40-ball hundreds each as Liberty posted 267 to seal their spot in the Knockout 2, where they will face the San Francisco Unicorns. The winner will face the Los Angeles Cavaliers in the 2026 MLC Finals.For much of the night, MI New York looked set to win after Pooran and Kieron Pollard dominated the Liberty attack. Pollard also hit 1,000 sixes in T20 cricket with his 25-ball 64, while Pooran bowled hard to put his team in complete control.However, the game took a turn when Rachin Ravindra took possession of the ball. When MI New York rolled out at 211 for 3 after 13 overs, Ravindra took 4 for 28 despite bowling only in the 14th, 16th, 18th and 20th overs. His wickets slowed down the pace of scoring and MI New York posted 266 for 9 instead of achieving a higher total.Washington Liberty’s chase got off to a bad start as Shakib Al Hassan struck twice with the new ball in the first two overs to reduce the deficit to 2 for 10. From that point on, Gus and Smith took control.The pair had an equal strike rate, adding 241 runs for the third wicket in just 89 balls, the joint-second-highest partnership of all wickets in men’s T20 cricket. Both reached their centuries in 40 balls.Freedom ended up finishing with 267 runs, the highest successful chase success rate in T20 history, surpassing the 265 runs that Kings XI Punjab managed against Delhi Capitals in the IPL earlier this year.The match also became the first men’s T20 match to feature three individual centuries. Guth and Smith’s hundreds in the chase made this the second instance of two batsmen scoring hundreds while chasing in a T20 match. Pooran and Smith also became the fourth pair of captains to score hundreds in the same men’s T20 match.
