A Pakistan Super League knockout clash featuring six top Aussies has ended with Marnus Labuschagne grabbing the bragging rights over Steve Smith
Marnus Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell are celebrating a triumph over a posse of their Australian international teammates as they homed in on potential glory in the Pakistan Super League.
Neither of the two veterans had vintage days for Hyderabad Kingsmen in their eliminator clash on Wednesday against an Ashton Turner-captained Multan Sultans team featuring Steve Smith, Peter Siddle and Josh Philippe.
But Labuschagne, captain of a Kinsgsmen outfit who’d suffered a horror start to the tournament, was left celebrating an emotional win as his side moved one match from Sunday’s final after dominating for an eight-wicket triumph at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.
“It’s really hard to put into words what it means for the franchise; it is really special,” beamed Labuschagne, who’s been praised for his leadership while notching a couple of key half-centuries during the competition.
“I am so proud of the guys from where we were – not winning a game over the first four games and then finding our feet in the back half of the tournament.”
Labuschagne was dismissed by a dazzling catch at point by Sahibzada Farhan for just 11 as Hyderabad pursued Multan’s sub-par 9-159, but a century second-wicket stand between Usman Khan (64) and opener Maaz Sadaqat (64no) ensured no alarms as they eased to victory on 2-162 with 28 balls remaining.
It was an anti-climactic end for Multan, dubbed the PSL’s “Aussie team”, as they were run through by a Hyderabad side always in command once Labuschagne won the toss and asked old pal Smith to take to the crease.
Smith had been finding rich form, scoring 56, 106 and 30 in his last three innings, but he lost out on his early absorbing heavyweight clash with veteran Test paceman Mohammad Ali.
He hit Ali for a couple of fours, but was dropped third ball at third man and then got caught from a quicker one three balls later that looped up off the splice, departing for 13 off 10 balls.
It was a calamity for the Sultans, with wicketkeeper Philippe falling lbw for six and Turner caught for nine when trying to hit them out of trouble.
So their three key Aussies batters were gone with only 51 on the board, and it needed a late show of defiance from Shan Masood (69no) to give them a defendable target.
“We lost a little bit of momentum over the last couple of games and we’ve unfortunately ended our campaign with some of our worst cricket,” sighed Turner.
Maxwell (1-28 off three overs) chipped in with a useful wicket and didn’t even need to bat as the Kingsmen eased to victory, with Smith getting clouted for two straight sixes near the end of the rout before grabbing the consolation wicket of Usman.
Labuschagne’s team will now meet Islamabad United, featuring Chris Green, in Friday’s second eliminator, with the winners going to the final in Lahore on Sunday against Peshawar Zalmi, who boast another Aussie allrounder Aaron Hardie.
Australians in PSL 2026
Hyderabad Kingsmen: Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith
Islamabad United: Chris Green
Karachi Kings: David Warner, Adam Zampa
Lahore Qalandars: Daniel Sams
Multan Sultans: Josh Philippe, Lachlan Shaw, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Ashton Turner
Peshawar Zalmi: Aaron Hardie
Quetta Gladiators: Sam Harper, Ben McDermott
Rawalpindiz: Usman Khawaja
