Hyderabad Kingsmen have qualified for the PSL 11 final, defeating Islamabad United by two runs in a tense Eliminator 2 match at Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.
The tournament debutants will now face table-toppers Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL 11 final at the same Lahore venue on Sunday evening.
Three-time champions Islamabad United needed six runs off the final over but were restricted to just three, ending their campaign in the eight-team tournament.
Usman and Perera power the total
Sent in to bat, Hyderabad Kingsmen posted 186 for five in twenty overs, built on a dominant fifth-wicket partnership between Usman Khan and Kusal Perera.
The Kingsmen suffered an early blow when Richard Gleeson dismissed opener Maaz Sadaqat for a four-ball duck in the very first over of the innings.
Saim Ayub then joined captain Marnus Labuschagne and the pair added seventy runs together for the second wicket to steady the Kingsmen’s innings significantly.
Chris Green ended that partnership in the tenth over, dismissing Saim, who had scored 38 off 27 deliveries, including seven boundaries during his contribution.
Imad Wasim then removed both Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell in the twelfth over, leaving the Kingsmen struggling at 85 for four wickets.
Labuschagne top-scored among the earlier batters with 40 off 32 deliveries, hitting four fours and a six before departing in that pivotal twelfth over.
Usman Khan and Kusal Perera then combined to add 101 runs for the fifth wicket, lifting the Kingsmen past the 180-run mark in the final overs.
Usman finished unbeaten on 61 off 30 deliveries, striking ten boundaries, while Perera contributed 37 off 21 balls with four fours and two sixes.
Imad Wasim was United’s best bowler, claiming two wickets for just 16 runs in his two overs, while Faheem Ashraf, Gleeson and Green took one each.
Chapman fires but Hunain holds nerve
Islamabad United’s chase began badly as Sameer Minhas and Mohsin Riaz both departed within three overs with the score on just fifteen runs.
Skipper Shadab Khan and Devon Conway steadied the innings with a forty-two-run second-wicket stand before Saim Ayub dismissed Conway in the eighth over.
Conway departed for 30 off 25 deliveries, hitting three fours and a six, while Shadab fell to Hassan Khan on the first ball of the eleventh over.
Shadab Khan made 22 off 24 deliveries before his dismissal, after which Chapman and Haider Ali built a crucial sixty-four-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Haider Ali scored 31 off 16 deliveries before falling to Mohammad Ali in the sixteenth over, leaving Chapman to anchor United’s thinning chase.
Chapman fell to Hunain Shah in the eighteenth over for 43 off 26 deliveries, his knock including five fours and two sixes, making him United’s top scorer.
Faheem Ashraf and Chris Green then struck 22 runs off the penultimate over to reduce the final-over target to just six runs required for the win.
Hunain Shah bowled a composed final over, conceding only three runs to secure the two-run victory and seal the Kingsmen’s place in the PSL 11 final.
For Hyderabad, Mohammad Ali and Hunain Shah each claimed two wickets, while Akif Javed, Hassan Khan and Saim Ayub contributed one wicket apiece in the match.
