With their season on the line, Hyderabad Kingsmen conjured an all-round performance to demolish the 10th-placed Rawalpindiz with a 108-run victory that earned them the last remaining playoff spot. Rawalpindiz, who would want to erase any trace of their campaign in PSL 2026 from memory, finished the season with a staggering tally of nine defeats in 10 games.
Kingsmen meanwhile stepped up in fine unison as the batters smashed their way to the massive total of 244/6 in 20 overs. Marnus Labuschagne fell early after the Kingsmen were asked to bat first, but the boundaries and sixes began to come easy. Maaz Sadaqat fell in the Powerplay too, but not before smashing five fours and a six for his 11-ball 28. Usman Khan also flew off the blocks, getting to 30 off 15 in the first six overs, taking the team total to 78/2 in that phase. He went on to finish with 54 off 26 - and was only one of three half-centurions for his team.
Though Saim Ayub departed early in the middle overs, Usman Khan and Kusal Perera took over the responsibility of driving their side forward. They each got a fifty - Usman finishing with a 26-ball 54 and Perera making a 30-ball 50 and hit nine fours and five sixes between them. But the carnage didn't end with them. From 119/5, Perera and Glenn Maxwell added a whirlwind 108 off 59 deliveries, where the Aussie smashed eight fours and two sixes on his way to a 37-ball 70.
Maxwell and Hassan Khan spearheaded two 17-run overs at the death as the Kingsmen went from 175/5 in 15 overs to 244/6 at the end of their innings.
The only modicum of a fight from Rawalpindiz came via the second-wicket partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Usman Khawaja worth 43 runs, but even that ended by the end of the Powerplay. Sam Billings offered some support to Khawaja, who eventually ended up being a lone battler with an unbeaten 66 off 43, laced with nine fours. But as many as eight of their batters fell for single-digit scores as medium pacer Hunain Shah finished with impressive figures of 4-22 in 3.1 overs. Left-arm quick Akif Javed bagged three as Rawalpindiz folded rather meekly for just 136 in the 18th over.
@B0$ Hyderabad Kingsmen 244/6 in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 70, Usman Khan 54, Kusal Perera 50; Saad Masood 2-34) beat Rawalpindiz 136 in 17.1 overs (Usman Khawaja 66*; Hunain Shah 4-22, Akif Javed 3-38) by 108 runs
