Steve Smith’s half-century and a crucial partnership with Mark Chapman helped the Washington Freedom overcome an early slump to beat the San Francisco Unicorns by five wickets and climb to the top of the Major League Cricket table with their second straight win.After electing to bowl first at the Knight Riders Cricket Field in Pomona, Washington produced a disciplined performance with the ball to restrict San Francisco to 126 all out in 19.3 overs with the over providing movement and uneven bounce for the seamers.San Francisco endured a tough start as Ben Dwarshuis struck twice to remove Lhuan-dre Pretorius and captain Matthew Short, while Jack Edwards produced an impressive spell to take four wickets. Edwards dismissed Finn Allen, Aaron Hardie, Sanjay Krishnamurthi and Haris Rauf to finish with figures of 4 for 13 from 3.3 overs.Short tried to anchor the innings with a patient 39 off 34 balls, but regular wickets prevented San Francisco from building momentum. Hassan Khan put up a late resistance with 27 off 28 deliveries, but the innings folded for 126 after Ian Holland picked up two wickets in the closing stages.The pursuit of Washington got off to a shaky start when: Xavier Bartlett Mitchell Owen was dismissed in the opening over, before Haris Rauf dismissed the promoted Jack Edwards. When Brody Couch was shaking Andries Gous in the fourth lead, Washington was down 19 for 3 and under pressure.However, captain Steve Smith and Mark Chapman strengthened the innings with a match-setting partnership of 72 runs for the fourth wicket. Chapman played a more aggressive role, hitting 44 off 33 balls with three fours and two sixes before falling woefully short of a half-century.Smith then took control of the chase, bringing up his first fifty of the season with a measured innings of 56 off 49 deliveries. Although he fell with just four runs needed, Nikhil Chaudhary and Obus Pienaar completed the job with 11 balls to spare, sealing a valuable win for Washington.