That concludes our coverage of this game. We will be back on Friday as Islamabad United play Hyderabad Kingsmen in Eliminator 2. The winners of that contest will play Peshawar Zalmi in the final. Until then, it is goodbye.
Marnus Labuschagne: It is really hard to put into words what it means for the franchise, the owners, the team, and the sport staff for us to be here: it is really special. We put a lot of work and time into making sure we came prepared today. We played really well especially with the bat and tried to come a few new ideas and a little bit of prep. It is nice that it came off today. [On bouncing back after the defeat to United] We actually addressed it today because I felt when we won that amazing game against Multan we were so high. We probably just expected to go and do the same thing the next game. That is obviously the reason we bowled out for 80. We had another high with that amazing game against Rawalpindiz. It was really important for us to treat this game individually and with the respect that it deserved. [On his fast bowlers] It is just great when you have guys in whom you can put your faith. In T20 cricket, you are always going to have a bad over and be put under pressure. But it doesn't matter because you can just trust them and communicate and they trust that process. 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 back half of the tournament and really making a push.
Ashton Turner: We lost a little bit of momentum over the last couple of games. We had won six out of eight games and were feeling good about how we were playing a complete game. The tide turned quickly on us and we have unfortunately ended our campaign with some of our worst cricket. [On losing wickets in the powerplay] The stats would suggest that if you lose that many wickets in the powerplay you rarely win. [Experience of PSL] I am disappointed with how it has finished but everyone in our dressing room generally had a smile on their face and we have had a great time. We have loved being here in Pakistan. The overseas cohort assimilated with a great group of local players, coaches, and support staff.
Maaz Sadaqat: I had been looking to slog right from the start but my coaches told me to take a few overs [to settle] and look to bat long. The result in front of you.
Maaz Sadaqat is the player of the match
Jahangir Aslam: "Main reason of Multan Sultan knockout is their best batsman "Sahibzada Farhan" who was not up to the mark."
This is, by the way, Kingsmen's first win at Lahore. Such magnificent has been their comeback that their consecutive four defeats at the start of the season in Lahore seem like a distant memory.
Safeer: "HHK storm into the semis! What a comeback story, an absolute clinic in bouncing back"
Naveed: "What a comeback from the Kingsmen. Winning last 4 games on trot. Momentum with them now and players peaking at right time. "
It took only 15.2 overs for Kingsmen to run down Sultans total of 159 which underscored how good was this pitch for batting. Maaz Sadaqat and Usman Khan made a light work of the target with their scores of 64 each and ensured there were no dramas after the early wicket of Labuschagne. They added 102 runs off 53 balls in the second wicket stand.
Talha : "Thumping win, take a bow Hyderabad!!"
Abbas : "Hard luck for Multan but I really want the final of Zalmi vs Multan."
END OF OVER:15 | 13 Runs | HHK: 157/2 (3 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 10.46, RRR: 0.60)
- Maaz Sadaqat64 (32b)
- Saim Ayub14 (14b)
- Arafat Minhas2-0-21-0
- Faisal Akram3-0-19-0
3 needed off the last five overs and we take a breather because of the mandatory strategic timeout after 15 overs.
They are milking the bowlers around now.
Arafat Minhas from over the wicket
END OF OVER:14 | 7 Runs | HHK: 144/2 (16 runs required from 36 balls, RR: 10.28, RRR: 2.66)
- Saim Ayub12 (12b)
- Maaz Sadaqat53 (28b)
- Faisal Akram3-0-19-0
- Peter Siddle3-0-31-0
Faisal Akram is back on. Left-arm over.
END OF OVER:13 | 7 Runs | HHK: 137/2 (23 runs required from 42 balls, RR: 10.53, RRR: 3.28)
- Saim Ayub7 (8b)
- Maaz Sadaqat51 (26b)
- Peter Siddle3-0-31-0
- Ashton Turner1-0-10-0
Abu Bakkar: "Two one sided knockout games. Come on guys, this is not what we are here for!!!Hoping for two nail biters coming our way. "
Siddle is back into the attack. Can he conjure up some magic here for Sultans? Right-arm over
Fazal Rauf : "From bottom of the table to almost into the eliminator 2, what an exemplary Austro-Pak combo is HHK!"
Salman Ahmed: "Good chance for Saim Ayub to carry his bag today! , he bowled under 6 per over with wicket ...it could be turning point for him too in this tournament "
