Aaron Hardie backed his four-wicket haul with a blistering half-century to lead Peshawar Zalmi to a five-wicket victory over Hyderabad Kingsmen in an enthralling Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 final at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.
The high-reward victory helped Zalmi clinch their second PSL title, ending a nine-year wait as they first got their hands on the prestigious silverware in 2017 under the leadership of West Indies great Darren Sammy. It also marked the first-ever major trophy for star batter Babar Azam as the captain.
Set to chase a modest 130-run target, Zalmi eventually knocked the winning runs comfortably for the loss of five wickets and 28 balls to spare.
The former champions, however, had a contrasting start to the pursuit as they lost Mohammad Haris (six) and captain Babar Azam (duck) in the pulsating first over, bowled by Mohammad Ali.
After the departure of both openers, all-rounder Aaron Hardie and in-form Kusal Mendis (nine) attempted to anchor the run chase with a 26-run partnership, which culminated with the latter’s dismissal in the fourth over.
Left-arm pacer Akif Javed inflicted another blow to Zalmi’s run chase in the subsequent over as he got Michael Bracewell (four) caught behind and brought the total down to 40/4. Hardie was then joined by Abdul Samad in the middle, and the duo turned the game on its head with sensible batting and put Zalmi within touching distance with an 85-run partnership.
Ali broke the crucial stand in the 15th over by dismissing Samad, who walked back after scoring a valiant 48 off 34 deliveries, laced with three fours and four sixes. Hardie, on the other hand, batted until the end and walked back after top-scoring with an unbeaten 56 off 39 deliveries, studded with nine boundaries.
Ali was the pick of the bowlers for the Kingsmen, taking three wickets for 38 runs in his four overs, while fellow pacers Hunain Shah and Javed could claim one apiece.Zalmi captain Babar Azam’s decision to field first paid dividends as the 2017 champions booked the debutants for a modest 129 in 18 overs.
Kingsmen got off to a shaky start to their innings. 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.