Hyderabad Kingsmen 157 for 4 (Labuschagne 61*, Auib 35, Sadaqat 30, Green 2-19, Ashraf 2-35) beat Islamabad United 153 for 9 (Conway 45, Chapman 42, Asif 4-18, Mohammad Ali 2-26) by six wickets
Hyderabad Kingsmen put in a composed batting performance to run down Islamabad United's 153 on a tricky Karachi pitch to win their second PSL 2026 match in as many nights. Their captain Marnus Labuschagne scored his first PSL half-century and cameos from Maaz Sadaqat and Glenn Maxwell in the powerplay and death respectively provided the impetus on a surface that lacked pace and bounce, and one that made shot-making difficult after the ball lost its sheen.
Realising the need to maximise the powerplay, both top orders went for broke inside the first six overs - United made 57 for 1 and Kingsmen replied with 56 for 1 - but the point of difference was the middle overs. United gave away their momentum with the run outs of the well-set Devon Conway (45 off 31) and Mohammad Faiq (18 off 14) in the tenth over, whereas Kingsmen continued to knock down the target with a match-defining partnership of 60 between Labuschagne (61 not out off 53) and Saim Ayub (35 off 26).
Saim's dismissal off Faheem Ashraf sparked a mini collapse as Kingsmen lost three for five runs in ten balls, but the experience of Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell (21 not out off nine) took them over the line with 11 balls to spare.
Sadaqat gave a sparkling start to the run chase, smashing Imad Wasim for two sixes and two fours in a 20-run first over. The openers brought up 50 in 4.4 overs following which Sadaqat mis-hit a heave down the ground, providing United with an opening. But the gritty stand between Ayub, who has lacked runs in the tournament, and Labuschagne ensured that the dismissal did not open the floodgates, as they milked singles and picked up boundaries in a display of high-quality batting.
A flurry of middle-order wickets put Kingsmen under the pump, but Maxwell started the 17th over with a six to bring the asking rate below six and closed it with a trademark six over cow corner to leave 12 runs to be chased in the last three overs. Labuschagne and Maxwell struck consecutive fours to finish the run chase.
Labuschagne had expected dew to play a role in the run chase at the toss when he opted to bowl but there were not many signs of it. United, who were captained by Chris Green in the absence of Shadab Khan (muscle strain) started their innings with a flyer as Conway hit Mohammad Ali and Hunain Shah for two and four boundaries respectively in the first and second overs. Ali's wily change of pace accounted for Sameer Minhas later in the powerplay and it provided a template to Kingsmen on how to bowl on this surface.
Their pacers rolled their fingers throughout the middle overs and spinners bowled slow as boundaries dried up for United. Ali, Maxwell, Ayub and Hassan Khan were impressive in the middle phase. Their incredible use of the pitch stretched United's boundary drought to 56 balls, which ended in the 17th over as Mark Chapman (42 off 30) cashed in on freebies offered by Hunain.
He fell on the first ball of the last over to debutant Asif Mehmood, who had been plundered for 15 runs in his only over until then. The right-arm pacer, however, finished off in style taking four wickets and leaking only three runs in the last six balls.
