Washington Freedom 187 for 9 (Owen 77, Smith 30, Chaudhary 27*, Hosein 4-36, Milne 2-31, Mulder 2-50) beat Texas Super Kings 185 for 4 (Ferreira 44*, Mulder 43*, Mukkamalla 37, Rossouw 34, Chaudhary 2-29) by one wicket
A last-ball six from Australia allrounder Nikhil Chaudhary gave Washington Freedom a one-wicket win over Texas Super Kings (TSK), capping a dramatic final over in which Akeal Hosein had put TSK on the brink of victory with a hat-trick.
The over began with Freedom needing six runs, with four wickets in hand. Hosein began with a dot ball, before ripping through Freedom's lower order with his left-arm spin, taking out Marco Jansen, Amila Aponso and Asif Mehmood off successive deliveries. This left Freedom needing six off two balls with No. 11 Lockie Ferguson on strike; a scrambled leg bye that also featured an lbw appeal and a failed review by the bowling side brought the game to its final act.
YOU CAN'T ASK FOR A BETTER MATCH ENDING Things looked bleak for the Washington Freedom after Akeal Hosein got the first hat trick in MLC history, but rookie Nikhil Chaudhary proved his mettled and took WF over the line for a last-ball thriller win--and all on his debut. pic.twitter.com/er8Qp3zoPe
— Cognizant Major League Cricket (@MLCricket) June 28, 2026
Chaudhary, batting on 21 off 18 balls, had watched all this action from the non-striker's end. Now, with five to get from one ball, he finished the game with the third six of his innings, pulling Hosein flat over the midwicket boundary.
This finish came exactly a year after the only other match-winning last-ball six in MLC so far: Shimron Hetmyer off Kieron Pollard to seal victory for Seattle Orcas over MI New York.
Freedom's chase of 186 had begun in much smoother circumstances, with Mitchell Owen and Steven Smith putting on 91 in just 7.5 overs. When Owen fell for a 35-ball 77 in the 12th over, their task looked straightforward: 66 off 51 balls with seven wickets in hand. But even as Freedom chipped away at the target, they kept losing wickets, ultimately opening the door for a wild finish.
Earlier, after choosing to bat, TSK lost Faf du Plessis early, but made steady progress through a 48-run second-wicket stand between Rilee Rossouw and Saiteja Mukkamalla. They struggled for impetus through the first three-fourths of their innings, however, and were 110 for 4 at the 15-over mark. Wiaan Mulder and Donovan Ferreira then made sure they got to a competitive total, putting on an unbroken 75 off just 31 balls for the fifth wicket, including 56 off the last three overs of the innings.
Chaudhary also made an impact with the ball for Freedom, picking up 2 for 29 with his legspin.