Rawalpindiz's losing streak rises to six as Hyderabad Kingsmen clinch low-scoring clash

Match Overview

Hyderabad Kingsmen handed Rawalpindiz their sixth-consecutive defeat of the ongoing 11th edition of the Pakistan Super League as they hammered them by five wickets and 21 balls to spare in match No. 24 at the National Stadium in Karachi on April 16.

Elected to field first after winning the toss, Kingsmen unleashed their right-arm pacer upfront and unleashed their pace spearhead, Mohammad Ali. Ali dismissed Rawalpindiz skipper Mohammad Rizwan in the fifth over. But it was Kingsmen's newest overseas recruit, Glenn Maxwell, who got the first breakthrough. Maxwell cleaned up compatriot Usman Khawaja on the second ball of the third over to dent Rawalpindiz early.

Yasir Khan (24 off 30) and Sam Billings (26 off 22) were the only two batters who showed resilience as the rest couldn't withstand the sustained pressure applied by Kingsmen bowlers. Hunain Shah was the pick of all the Kingsmen bowlers as he claimed figures of 3/18, dismissing Daryl Mitchell, Abdullah Fazal and Mubasir Khan. Ali also claimed a three-wicket haul.

Rawalpindiz laboured their way to 121 for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs.  In reply, Kingsmen also struggled to bat with fluency throughout their innings. They lost opener Maaz Sadaqat in the first over and lost Saim Ayub and Usman Khan in quick succession. 

They were also struggling at 29/3 inside the powerplay, but skipper Marnus Labuschagne (32 off 21) and Kusal Perera (32* off 24) added 39 runs for the fourth wicket to bring a sense of calm. Irfan Khan (34* off 29) added 54 runs for the sixth wicket to take Kingsmen home. Rawalpindiz are mathematically still alive but need to win their remaining fixtures while relying on other results to go their way.

Top run-scorer of the match

Top wicket-taker of the match

Player of the Match

Hunain Shah

Hunain Shah is rising through the ranks with consistent performances in the domestic circuit. The right-arm seamer was unable to dismiss 14 runs in the last over against Peshwar Zalmi in the previous match, but dusted himself off and put on a stellar display in Karachi on Thursday. He exercised plenty of discipline in his bowling and bowled at an economy rate of 4.50.

Turning Point

The poor start to Rawalpindiz's innings was the turning point of the game. Despite playing on a fresh surface, Rawalpindiz's batting order struggled to come to terms with the pace and the carry of the surface at the National Stadium. After losing a cluster of wickets early, they were always playing catch-up.

What the captains said

Winning Team Captain, Marnus Labuschagne (HHK)

"Yeah, well, that's so good. But again, I think we're just finally now on our feet. Yeah, I think that we kept stressing during those times where it wasn't going that well is there was some really good things that we were doing and we just wanted to keep reiterating that to the team and going, we're not that far away. And we've been able to put some really good performances together. Even today, it was a little bit more niggly with that low score on a tricky wicket, but you know, Irfan and KP just did such a great job to finish our game off for us. So good. I think they've just been so critical in the way they've gone about it. They've (Hunain and Ali) read the game, they've understood the conditions and I'm so, so impressed with them. So it's nice to be where we are now."

Losing Team Captain, Mohammad Rizwan (RWP)

"The pitch was tricky. We had discussed about getting 140. The pressure was built by Shah and Ali. So, credit to them. There are positives but when you don't get results, the positives don't matter much. But yes, we did manage to get a few wickets."