Washington Freedom 129 for 5 (Smith 56, Chapman 44, Couch 2-24, Rauf 2-27) beat San Francisco Unicorns 126 (Short 39, Edwards 4-13, Holland 2-16, Dwarshuis 2-27) by five wickets

Jack Edwards starred with a four-wicket haul as Washington Freedom surged from sixth to the temporary top spot in the MLC 2026 standings, beating San Francisco Unicorns by five wickets in a contest that began with all six teams level on six points. Unicorns have now lost three out of their six matches.

Edwards' 4 for 17 laid the foundation for the win as Freedom bundled Unicorns for 126. The seamer turned the game in the sixth over, when he struck thrice to leave Unicorns at 45 for 4. Ian Holland and Ben Dwarshuis then chipped in with two wickets each as Unicorns failed to recover from the Edwards blows and were kept to a below-par total.

The chase, however, was far from straightforward. Freedom slumped to 19 for 3 inside four overs after losing Mitchell Owen, Edwards and Andries Gous, leaving Steven Smith and Mark Chapman with the task of rebuilding.

With the required rate hovering near seven an over, Smith and Chapman put on a match-defining 72-run stand for the fourth wicket. Smith anchored the innings with 56 off 49 balls, while Chapman found the boundaries more regularly in his 44 off 33. Although Haris Rauf and Brody Couch claimed two wickets apiece to briefly raise hopes of a late comeback, Freedom remained in control, with Nikhil Chaudhary finishing unbeaten on 11 as they reached 129 for 5 in 18.1 overs to seal a crucial victory.