Aaron Hardie delivered a brilliant all-round performance to guide Peshawar Zalmi to their second Pakistan Super League (PSL) title, defeating newcomers Hyderabad Kingsmen by five wickets in a tense final at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.

Hardie first claimed 4-27 to bowl out Hyderabad for a below-par 129 all out in 18 overs, then anchored the chase with an unbeaten 56 off 39 balls (nine fours) as Peshawar reached 130-5 in 15.2 overs. The victory came in front of a packed crowd in Babar Azam's hometown.

For Peshawar captain Babar Azam, it was his first PSL title as skipper. He finished as the tournament's leading run-scorer with 588 runs, including two centuries, equaling Fakhar Zaman's record. "It's a very big achievement for me, for Peshawar Zalmi and all the fans," Babar said. "Every player executed the plans."

Peshawar's chase got off to a disastrous start, slumping to 40-4 inside five overs. Babar fell for a golden duck, while Mohammad Haris, Kusal Mendis, and Michael Bracewell managed single-digit scores. However, Hardie and Abdul Samad (48) shared a match-winning 85-run stand, with Samad falling just five runs short of victory.

Hyderabad captain Marnus Labuschagne admitted his team fell short: "As a batting group, we probably left a few runs out there. We showed once again that belief, putting them four for 40, but just not enough runs on the board." Hyderabad had a fairytale run, losing their first four league games before winning four in a row to reach the final.

Earlier, Saim Ayub (54) scored a fighting half-century for Hyderabad. But after a productive powerplay (69-2), Hyderabad collapsed to 73-6 in the space of nine balls. Hardie wrapped up the innings by dismissing Ayub and No. 11 Akif Javed.

Source: www.aljazeera.com