Hyderabad Kingsmen captain Marnus Labuschagne remained optimistic about his side’s chances to “come back stronger” after they slipped to a third consecutive defeat in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 on Wednesday.
Having already endured tough losses against Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators, the Kingsmen showed promise in their third outing against Multan Sultans at the Gaddafi Stadium. Opting to bat first, they posted an imposing 225/5 in their 20 overs.
However, that effort proved insufficient as Sahibzada Farhan’s unbeaten century powered the 2021 champions to a comfortable chase of 226. The Sultans reached the target with four wickets down and eight balls remaining, leaving the Kingsmen still searching for their first win of the campaign.
Labuschagne Credits Sultans’ Strong Start
Speaking after the match, Labuschagne said he was “pretty confident” that 225 would be enough but acknowledged the impact made by Sultans’ opening pair, Steve Smith and Farhan, who laid the foundation with an aggressive start.
“I think whenever you get 225 on the board, you’re pretty confident it’s defendable. Obviously, it wasn’t tonight,” said Labuschagne.
“They batted beautifully. I thought the openers got off to a perfect start, which is what you need when chasing that sort of score,” he added.
Fielding Lapses Prove Costly
The Kingsmen’s chances were further hurt by missed opportunities in the field during the chase. Labuschagne admitted the side failed to capitalise at key moments but pointed out several encouraging individual performances.
“We probably just didn’t take all our chances, and it cost us. But we set out to come back in this tournament and show intent. I thought Maaz and Saim were amazing at the top; they just set the tone,” Labuschagne continued.
“Then Sharjeel, in his first game back, got 50 off 25 in the middle order, and Usman came out and set the tone as well. I’m really proud of that innings. Even Mohammad Ali, I think his [second over] was awesome. There are a lot of great things there, even if we didn’t get the result.”
Captain Reflects on Key Tactical Decision
Labuschagne also pointed to his decision to bowl the 15th over himself instead of Saim Ayub or Maaz Sadaqat, which conceded 21 runs, as a moment he would reconsider.
“That was our last game here, so we go to Karachi for the rest of the tournament now. I think there’s probably a little bit on me regarding that 15th over; I could have looked at bowling Maaz or Saim then, but those are things you look back on in retrospect,” Labuschagne stated.
“We just have to keep trusting our skills and working on executing to get better.”
Focus on Positives Moving Forward
Despite the result, the Kingsmen captain emphasised the positives and backed his team to respond strongly in the remainder of the tournament.
“Yeah, there are a lot of positives, and I’m really proud of the effort the boys put in. Things didn’t go our way, but it’s a long tournament. We’ll come back stronger and learn some great lessons from this game.”
