Peshawar Zalmi beat Hyderabad Kingsmen by 5 wickets, lift PSL trophy a second time

The final of 11th HBL Pakistan Super League edition turned out to be a one-man show as Aaron Hardie’s spectacular all-round performance led Peshawar Zalmi to their second title win on Sunday in Lahore.

They defeated Hyderabad Kingsmen by five wickets after opting to bowl first against the debutants.

In the first innings, Hardie’s impressive four-wicket haul helped restrict Hyderabad Kingsmen to 129 runs with two overs left.

Despite a 54-run innings by Saim Ayub, no Kingsmen batter had managed to survive the pace-buttressed attack of Peshawar Zalmi.

Hardie grabbed four crucial wickets for Zalmis, including batting prowess Glenn Maxwell, sending him back to the pavilion on a duck. He also took Saim’s wicket.

Bangladesh’s Nahid Rana, who was called in the Zalmi squad in place of Khurram Shehzad, grabbed a couple of wickets as well, including Kingsmen captain Marnus Labuschagne.

Sufiyaan Muqeem and Muhammad Basit also clasped a wicket each for Peshawar Zalmi.

Labuschagne and Hassan Khan added 20 and 12 runs, respectively, to the scoreboard. Seven out of 11 Kingsmen batters were not able to score runs in double figures.

Peshawar Zalmi, who entered the final after crushing three-time champions Islamabad United by 70 runs in the first playoff match, are on a run for their second title. They last lifted the trophy in 2017, when they defeated Quetta Gladiators in the final.

Throughout PSL 11, Babar-led Zalmi registered eight victories and just a single defeat, to the Gladiators, sealing the top spot in the points table.

Meanwhile, Kingsmen — one of the two new franchises added to the PSL circuit in this edition — secured a stunning 2-run victory over Islamabad United in the make-or-break eliminator on Friday to book a place in the final.

Kingsmen had a rough start to the campaign, losing five games in a row before getting back on track to win the next five fixtures and qualify for the playoffs.