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Haris Rauf came up with a brand new celebration to celebrate the wicket of Steve Smith during the 15th match of the ongoing Major League Cricket 2026 (MLC 2026) between San Francisco Unicorns and Washington Freedom at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland on Monday (June 29).
Washington Freedom lost an early wicket after fast bowler Haris Rauf bowled a brilliant delivery to dismiss Steven Smith after several dropped catches at the Oakland Coliseum. Earlier, Ravichandran Ashwin’s MLC debut saw Haris Rauf dropped from the San Francisco Unicorns XI.
Haris Rauf clean bowled Steve Smith with a pinpoint yorker.
In the fourth over of Washington Freedom, Harris Rauf bowled an accurate and sharp yorker on the leg stump which landed right near the feet of Steve Smith, making it extremely difficult for the batsman to play. The Washington Freedom captain went wide of the stumps attempting a risky scoop shot to lift the ball over the wicketkeeper or fine leg.
However, the Australian superstar missed the ball completely as the Pakistani fast bowler’s delivery was too fast and too accurate. The ball went straight and hit the stumps, breaking the bails and ending Smith’s run at 3 runs off 8 balls in the MLC 2026 clash.
After Smith was clean bowled, the commentator joked that Rauf did not get any help from his fielders as he had dropped a few catches early in the innings and the Pakistani bowler took the wicket himself by hitting the stumps.
Haris Rauf creates a brand new celebration to celebrate Steve Smith’s wicket
However, it was Haris Rauf’s celebration that surprised everyone as he came up with a special gesture to bid farewell to Smith during the Major League Cricket 2026 clash. Before this, Steve Smith bowed to Sahibzada Farhan.
The San Francisco Unicorns bowler celebrated the wicket by raising one leg up and pointing a finger straight in the air. Rauf’s classic gesture was followed by a surprise finger gesture suggesting the former Australian captain to walk off the field, the clip is now going viral on social media.
Haris Rauf had a special celebration after dismissing Steve Smith. pic.twitter.com/mLy0UJSHZF
– Sherry. (@CallMeSheri1_) June 29, 2026
Luan-Dre Pretorius performed brilliantly as the Unicorns chased 191 in just 15.1 overs.
Talking about the match, Washington Freedom scored 190/4 in 20 overs on the back of a brilliant inning of 83* from Andries Gaus. Michael Owen and Nikhil Chaudhary also contributed 39 and 32 runs respectively.
Later, San Francisco Unicorns achieved the target thanks to a brilliant half-century from Luan-Dre Pretorius and a brilliant knock of 45 off 45 in 15.1 overs against Washington Freedom.
Steve Smith breaks silence after crushing defeat against San Francisco Unicorns
Following the crushing eight-wicket defeat against the San Francisco Unicorns, Steve Smith was quoted by Cricbuzz as saying in the post-match presentation, “It’s definitely been a bit wetter tonight than the last couple of matches and there may well have been a bit of a skid on the bat.”
Speaking on the total, the captain said, “We thought that was a good score on that wicket in that first innings. So, the way we started with the ball, the way they got off to a great start and took the game away from us, obviously disappointing. But I thought we batted quite well. What are we? Two, three games, a win here. So, it would have been nice to get two. But, yes. No, it’s been good to play in front of some fans here. It’s been good fun. On to the next step.