Aaron Hardie's All-Round Heroics Lead Peshawar Zalmi to Second PSL Title

Peshawar Zalmi won their second Pakistan Super League title in Lahore as Australian all-rounder Aaron Hardie produced an outstanding all-round performance. Hardie took 4-27 as Hyderabad Kingsmen were bowled out for 129, then top-scored with an unbeaten 56 as Peshawar chased down 130 with 28 balls to spare.

Having topped the table in the group stage, Zalmi thrashed Islamabad United in the qualifier before chasing a low total in the final to end their nine-year title drought. Kingsmen, who reached the final in their first season of existence, were put into bat in Lahore and reached 71-2 shortly after the powerplay.

Their innings took a nosedive from that point, as they lost four wickets for three runs, with Michael Bracewell running out both Irfan Khan Niazi and Kusal Perera. Saim Ayub offered some resistance, scoring a steady 54 from 50 balls and dragging his side's score into three figures. He became Hardie's third victim, and the seamer - who had already dismissed opener Marnus Labuschagne and Hassan Khan - then removed Akif Javed five balls later to end the Kingsmen innings with two overs remaining.

While 130 looked a challenging total to defend, Kingsmen had their opponents reeling in the first over as seamer Mohammad Ali dismissed first Mohammad Haris (6) and then Peshawar captain Babar Azam for a golden duck. Kusal Mendis (9) and Bracewell (4) also returned to the dugout as Peshawar slipped to 40-4.

However from that point Hardie and Abdul Samad (48) steered Peshawar out of trouble, putting on 85 for the fifth wicket. Ali had Samad caught with five runs required, finishing with figures of 3-38, but Pakistan Under-19 captain Farhan Yousuf finished the match with a four as Kingmen's low total proved too challenging to defend.