A batting blitz from Lhuan-dre Pretorius has put San Francisco on a comfortable 8-wicket victory against Washington Freedom in the MLC 2026 clash played at Oakland Coliseum, Oakland.

His brilliant knock overshadowed Andries Gous’ 83* as Unicorns completed the chase in the 16th over. By this win, they climbed to the top of the MLC 2026 Points table.

After choosing to bat first, Mitchell Owen and Steven Smith opened the innings for Freedom while Xavier Bartlett opened the bowling attack.

Haris Rauf bagged the first wicket, dismissing Steven Smith for 3 runs. With Mitchell Owen and Andries Gous at the crease, San Francisco Unicorns scored 52 runs in the power play.

Despite Owen’s dismissal for 39 runs, Gous went on to smash a fifty and remained unbeaten till the end of their innings.

Mark Chapman, Nikhil Choudhary and Obus Pienaar did make some contributions, and Andries Gous smashed 50-ball 83 as Washington Freedom scored 190/4 in their 20-over innings.

Haris Rauf, Ghulam, Brody Couch and Matthew Short bagged one wicket each for San Francisco Unicorns.

Chasing a 191-run target, Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Finn Allen opened the innings while Amila Aponso opened the bowling attack.

A record-breaking night for Lhuan-dre Pretorius🔥

Pretorius claims the Player of the Match title after an impressive INNING, helping set a new record for the highest Powerplay score in MLC history. pic.twitter.com/7di4tpcdXp

— Cognizant Major League Cricket (@MLCricket) June 29, 2026

The duo made a solid start, scoring 102 for the first wicket. Allen made an 18-ball 45 runs before his dismissal by Marco Jansen.

With Matthew Short and Lhuan-dre Pretorius at the crease, Unicors scored 104 runs in the power play.

In the meantime, Pretorius slammed a 16-ball fifty and continued to score 66 runs off 26 deliveries.

With Lhuan-dre Pretorius’ dismissal by Nikhil Chaudhary, Aaron Hardie joined Short to complete the chase in the 16th over.

Matthew Short scored 34* while Aaron Hardie scored 42* runs, posting a massive win against Freedom.