LAHORE: It was not a day of veterans of both the teams at a jam-packed Gaddafi Stadium.

Though Hyderabad Kings­men’s captain Marnus Labusc­hagne, team-mates Glenn Maxwell and Kusal Perera, and Peshawar Zalmi skipper Babar Azam and partner Kusal Men­dis could not contribute productively, the big game — dominated by bowlers — still carried entertainment and exc­it­ement for the lively spectators.

It was Aaron Hardie’s time to excel. Rising to the massive occasion, the 27-year-old Australian all-rounder, playing his sixth game of this PSL, made the difference both with bat and ball to steer Zalmi to a five-wicket triumph — giving them their second PSL crown. They won their first in 2017.

Debutants Kingsmen, who came back strongly to make the final after initial hiccups, failed to complete the job.

Hardie earned the man-of-the-final honours while his Zalmi team-mate left-arm wrist spinner Sufiyan Muqeem (22 wickets) received the man-of-the-tournament award.

Zalmi bowlers justified their captain’s decision to field first by restricting Kingsmen team for a pretty moderate-looking total of 129 as pacer Hardie led the task with a four-wicket haul.

Zalmi had a nightmarish start to the chase, losing both Babar and Mohammad Haris in the opening over bowled by pacer Mohammad Ali.

Haris was taken a mid-off by Labuschagne on the third ball of the innings as the batter tried to play a lofted shot off a fuller ball across the line.

Two balls later, Babar, the highest run-getter of this PSL, flirted with a ball way outside off but only managed to get an edge and Usman Khan took a simple catch as Zalmi facing a very early double shock slumped to 7-2.

A huge moment came in the fourth over when Mendis, the second highest scorer of the ongoing PSL, was caught by Maaz Sadaqat at backward point off paceman Hunain Shah to leave Zalmi struggling at 33-3 in the fourth.

When Michael Bracewell was caught behind by a diving Usman off pacer Akif Javed in the fifth over to leave Zalmi tottering at 40-4, the match looked evenly poised.

Hardie alongside Abdul Samad however looked rock solid amid pressure as Zalmi reached 53-4 in powerplay.

Right-handed Hardie played some fluent strokes, without hitting a six, while Samad hit four maximums besides three fours in his 48-run knock off 34 balls.

As the pair got past 100 in 12 overs needing just 30 more, Kingsmen were put on the backfoot.

Hardie completed his fifty, his first of this PSL, off 35 balls, his innings embellished with nine fours.

After a priceless 85-run stand, Samad was sent back to the dugout by Mohammad Ali in the 15th over, but it was too little, too late with only five needed by Zalmi for victory.

When Farhan Yousaf struck Hunain for a four in the 16th, it sealed a well-deserved win for Zalmi who lost only one match in this entire PSL season.

SPECTACULAR COLLAPSE

Kingsmen innings, earlier, faced a spectacular collapse after they got off to a flying start in powerplay despite the loss of two wickets in that period.

Opener Maaz (11) was dismissed early by pacer Mohammad Basit in the second over as the batter attempted a pull only to be caught by Samad at deep square leg.

Labuschagne alongside Saim Ayub tried to accelerate and in the process Kingsmen cruised to 50 in 4.3 overs. On the next ball, however, Kingsmen suffered a big blow as pacer Hardie gave Zalmi the prized wicket of Labuschagne who trying to square cut nicked a rising ball outside off to Haris.

Kingsmen continued their charge through Saim, who alongside Usman Khan, lifted their team to 69-2 in powerplay.

Now came the phase that dented Kingsmen badly as they lost as many as five wickets in the space of 20 balls for the addition of mere 19 runs.

In-form Usman did not last long, deceived by a straight deliver by left-arm wrist spinner Sufiyan in the seventh over. The right-handed wicket-keeper/batter opted for a review but to no avail.

In the same over, new batter Irfan Khan failed to return to crease from halfway down the pitch as Bracewell sent in a perfect throw from the cover position to Sufiyan who broke the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Kingsmen were now reeling at 72-4.

Another massive moment of the game in the next over when big-hitting boss Glenn Maxwell got a golden duck as the batter mistimed a pull shot off pacer Nahid Rana only to give Farhan a simple catch at mid-on which left Kingsmen at a sorry 72-5.

In the same over non-striker Kusal Perera was run out in controversial circumstances after involving in a mix-up with bowler Nahid, who attempted to collect the ball on his follow-through, while trying to complete a run. The batter was not happy with the bowler’s action during the run. The on-field umpires discussed the matter before referring it to the third umpire who endorsed the run-out leaving Perera extremely dejected as Kingsmen nosedived further to 73-6.

While Saim stood firmly at one end, wickets kept fall at the other.

At the total of 90 in the Hassan Khan was the next to go after mistiming a short-pitched ball outside off-stump to be caught superbly by a diving Kusal Mendis at deep backward point.

Kingsmen at halfway stage were now languishing at 90-7. The run-rate was fine but the wickets column caused massive trouble for Labuschagne and his men. Consequently, the runs got dried up as Kingsmen crawled towards the 100 mark in the 13th over.

The innings kept getting jolts as tailender Hunain Shah was cleaned up by Nahid in the next over. From 108-8 in the 14th over, it all depended on Saim to resurrect Kingsmen’s innings.

The southpaw completed his first T20 fifty in 13 innings off 42 balls as he fought a lone battle — while trying to keep the most strike — to steer his team out of trouble amid mounting pressure to increase the scoring rate.

The batter was finally dismissed — after crafting 54 off 50 with five fours and a brace of sixes — in the 18th over when he skied a Hardie ball in an attempt for a big hit but was caught by Iftikhar Ahmed at mid-on. It was now 123-9.

Hardie folded the Kingsmen innings in the same over when last man Akif was caught by Haris as the tall pacer returned nice figures of 4-27.

Nahid took 2-22 while Basit and Sufiyan had a wicket each.

SCOREBOARD

HYDERABAD KINGSMEN:

Marnus Labuschagne c Haris b Hardie20

Maaz Sadaqat c Samad b Basit11

Saim Ayub c Iftikhar b Hardie54

Usman Khan lbw b Sufiyan8

Irfan Khan run out1

Glenn Maxwell c Farhan b Nahid0

Kusal Perera run out1

Hassan Khan c Mendis b Hardie12

Hunain Shah b Nahid9

Mohammad Ali not out1

Akif Javed c Haris b Hardie5

EXTRAS (LB-3, NB-1, W-3)7

TOTAL (all out, 18 overs)129

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-16 (Maaz), 2-51 (Labuschagne), 3-71 (Usman), 4-72 (Irfan), 5-72 (Maxwell), 6-73 (Perera), 7-90 (Hassan), 8-108 (Hunain), 9-123 (Saim)

BOWLING: Iftikhar 2-0-21-0, Basit 3-0-22-1, Hardie 4-0-27-4 (2w), Rana 4-1-22-2 (1nb), Sufiyan 4-0-23-1 (1w), Bracewell 1-0-11-0

PESHAWAR ZALMI:

Mohammad Haris c Labuschagne b Ali6

Babar Azam c Usman b Ali0

Kusal Mendis c Maaz b Hunain9

Aaron Hardie not out56

Michael Bracewell c Usman b Akif4

Abdul Samad c Maxwell b Ali48

Farhan Yousaf not out4

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-1)3

TOTAL (for five wickets, 15.2 overs)130

DID NOT BAT: Iftikhar Ahmed, Sufiyan Muqeem, Mohammad Basit, Nahid Rana

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-6 (Haris), 2-7 (Babar), 3-33 (Mendis), 4-40 (Bracewell), 5-125 (Samad)

BOWLING: Ali 4-0-38-3, Akif 4-0-29-1, Hunain 3.2-0-26-1 (1w), Hassan 3-0-22-0, Saim 1-0-13-0

RESULT: Peshawar Zalmi won by five wickets.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Aaron Hardie

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2026