What happened
Hyderabad Kingsmen beat Multan Sultans by eight wickets in the first eliminator of the 11th Pakistan Super League at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on Wednesday 29 April 2026, ending the Sultans’ campaign. ProPakistani reported that Multan, put in to bat, finished on 159 for nine in their 20 overs.
Shan Masood was the one batter to build an innings, finishing unbeaten on 69 off 46 balls with four fours and four sixes, according to ProPakistani. Mohammad Nawaz added 19. Akif Javed, Mohammad Ali and Hunain Shah took two wickets each for Hyderabad, with Glenn Maxwell and Saim Ayub taking one apiece.
The chase was quick. Usman Khan made 64 off 35 balls and Maaz Sadaqat was unbeaten on 64 off 33, and the Kingsmen reached the target of 160 with more than four overs to spare. The Associated Press, in its match report, described the collapse of Multan’s batting around Masood as a result of Hyderabad’s pace and spin. The two reports differ slightly on Hyderabad’s exact final total and the overs taken, but agree on the margin.
A debut season that took off late
The AP reported that Hyderabad, captained by Marnus Labuschagne, lost their first four games of their debut season before winning five of their last six league matches to reach the playoffs. The side’s earlier meeting with Islamabad United, a league-stage win built on a Labuschagne fifty, was part of that recovery. Squads were finalised at the player auction in February.
Crowds return to the playoffs
The tournament began without spectators. The Pakistan Cricket Board had barred fans and restricted matches to Lahore and Karachi as part of an austerity drive. The AP said the empty stands followed high fuel prices linked to the Iran war and a government appeal to limit travel, and that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif later approved the return of spectators for the four remaining playoff games. Permission for the eliminator came only about 24 hours before the Peshawar-Islamabad qualifier, the agency reported. Gaddafi Stadium was not full, but thousands attended, the first crowd of the season at the ground.
What happens next
Hyderabad Kingsmen play three-time champions Islamabad United in the second eliminator on Friday 1 May, the AP reported. The winner meets Peshawar Zalmi, captained by Babar Azam, in the final on Sunday. Peshawar reached the final by beating Islamabad by 70 runs in the qualifier on Tuesday, when Babar scored his second century of the season. The loser of the second eliminator is out of the tournament.
