The Rawalpindiz's miserable PSL 2026 campaign sank to a sixth straight loss as Hyderabad Kingsmen swept them aside in Karachi to notch up a third successive win, a commendable turnaround that sees them climb to the fourth place on the table in a season that started with four straight defeats.
Having won the toss and elected to bowl, the Kingsmen set the tone immediately. By the end of the Powerplay, Rawalpindiz were a stricken 24 for 3 - the lowest six-over score of the season - with Usman Khawaja (2) and Mohammad Rizwan (15) both back in the hut, followed by Daryl Mitchell, who scratched around for five balls without troubling the scorer.
The Pindiz never found their rhythm from there. Boundaries dried up completely, dot balls mounted, and wickets fell at regular intervals against a disciplined bowling attack. Yasir Khan, at No. 3, was the one batter who showed any fight, grinding out 24 from 30 deliveries, while Sam Billings provided a late flurry of 26 from 22 balls - including a six - before being bowled by Asif Mehmood in the 17th over. In the end, 121/9 was all Rawalpindiz had to show. For the Kingsmen. the chief destroyers were Hunain Shah and Mohammad Ali, each returning three wickets at under a run a ball.
The 122-run chase was far from straightforward, and the Kingsmen found themselves in early difficulty. Asif Afridi was excellent with the new ball, removing Maaz Sadaqat in the very first over for just four before dismissing the dangerous Saim Ayub - who had cracked 15 including a six - to leave the Kingsmen stuttering at 35/3 after six overs.
Marnus Labuschagne (32 off 21) and Kusal Perera (32* off 24) steadied the ship with an enterprising stand, but when Labuschagne was trapped in front by Saad Masood for a punchy 32 off 21, the game suddenly felt alive again. It nearly tilted entirely when Ben Sears crashed through Glenn Maxwell's stumps for a golden duck the very next over, leaving the Kingsmen at 69 for 5 and the match teetering on a knife-edge with a significant portion of the target still required.
What followed was a quietly brilliant passage of play. Mohammad Irfan and Kusal Perera kept their heads completely, rotating the strike, picking their moments to attack and refusing to let the Pindiz sniff the game back. Perera finished unbeaten on 32 from 24 balls, Irfan on 34 from 29, and their unbroken 54-run partnership guided the Kingsmen home with 24 balls to spare.
@B0$
@B1$Rawalpindiz 121/9 in 20 overs (Sam Billings 26; Hunain Shah 3-18, Mohammad Ali 3-21) lost to Hyderabad Kingsmen 123/5 in 16.3 overs (Irfan Khan 34, Kusal Perera 32; Asif Afridi 2-20) by five wickets
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