Watch: Haris Rauf castles Steve Smith before unveiling new celebration

Haris Rauf came up with the brand-new celebration to celebrate Steve Smith’s wicket 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).

The Washington Freedom lost an early wicket after fast bowler Haris Rauf produced a brilliant delivery to dismiss Steven Smith after a series of dropped catches at the Oakland Coliseum. Earlier, Ravichandran Ashwin’s MLC debut forces Haris Rauf out of San Francisco Unicorns XI.

Haris Rauf cleans up Steve Smith with a pinpoint yorker

In the fourth over of Washington Freedom, Haris Rauf bowled a perfect and quick yorker aimed at the leg stump that lands right near Steve Smith’s feet, making it extremely difficult for the batter to play. The Washington Freedom captain moved a long way across the stumps as he tried to play a risky scoop shot to lift the ball over the wicketkeeper or fine leg.

However, the Australian superstar completely missed the ball as the Pakistani pacer’s delivery was too quick and too accurate. The ball went straight on and crashed into the stumps, knocking the bails off and ending Smith’s stay at 3 runs off 8 balls in the MLC 2026 clash.

After Smith was cleaned bowled, the commentator joked that Rauf did not take any help from his fielders because they had already dropped a few catches earlier in the innings and the Pakistani bowler took the wicket himself by hitting the stumps.

Haris Rauf pulls off brand-new celebration to celebrate Steve Smith’s wicket

However, it was Haris Rauf’s celebration that left everyone in a split as he came up with a special gesture to give a send-off to Smith during the Major League Cricket 2026 clash. Before this, Steve Smith bows down to Sahibzada Farhan.

The San Francisco Unicorns bowler celebrated the wicket by holding one leg up and pointing a single finger directly in the air. Rauf’s classic gesture was followed by a surprising finger gesture, suggesting the former Australian skipper get out of the ground, with the clip now going viral on social media.

Haris Rauf brings out a special celebration after dismissing Steve Smith. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/mLy0UJSHZF

— Sheri. (@CallMeSheri1_) June 29, 2026

Lhuan-dre Pretorius steals the show as Unicorns chase 191 in just 15.1 overs

Speaking about the match, Washington Freedom posted 190/4 in the 20 overs on the back of a stunning knock of 83* by Andries Gous. Michael Owen and Nikhil Choudhary also contributed 39 and 32 runs, respectively.

Later, the San Francisco Unicorns chased down the target thanks to a stunning fifty from Lhuan-dre Pretorius and a brilliant 45 from 45 against the Washington Freedom in 15.1 overs.

Steve Smith breaks silence after crushing defeat against San Francisco Unicorns

After the crushing eight-wicket loss against the San Francisco Unicorns, Steve Smith at the post-match presentation was quoted by Cricbuzz as saying, “Definitely got a little bit wetter tonight than it has over the last couple and might have skidded onto the bat a little bit nicer.”

Speaking on the total, the skipper noted, “We thought that was a decent total on that wicket in that first innings. So, obviously disappointed in the way we started with the ball, the way they got off to a flying start and took the game away from us. But I thought we batted reasonably well. What are we? Two, three games, one win here. So, it would have been nice to get two. But, yeah. No, it’s been nice to play out here in front of some fans. It’s been good fun. Onto the next leg.”