Shadab says Kingsmen 'deserved to be in final' after United's PSL 11 exit

LAHORE: Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan acknowledged Hyderabad Kingsmen as the deserving team to be in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 final following his side's narrow defeat at the hands of tournament debutants in the Eliminator 2 here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.

Put into bat first, the Kingsmen registered a formidable total of 186/5 in their 20 overs, courtesy of a century-plus partnership between in-form Usman Khan and Kusal Perera.

The duo recovered the Kingsmen from 85/4 in 11.2 overs to 186/5 in 20 as they raised 101 runs for the fifth wicket. Usman dominated the crucial stand and finished as their top-scorer with an unbeaten 61 off 30 deliveries, studded with 10 boundaries.

In turn, the United could muster 184/7 in their 20 overs despite a collective effort from their batting unit and thus succumbed to a gut-wrenching two-run defeat.

Reflecting on his team's performance in the high-stakes fixture, Shadab expressed disappointment over their elimination but insisted the Kingsmen were the deserving finalists for playing better.

"Yes, sad we didn't make it to the final, but the team which played better deserves to be in the final," said Shadab at the post-match presentation.

The all-rounder also emphasised that their death bowling was concerning as they leaked away around 15 runs extra, which eventually proved to be distinctive.

"Death bowling was a concern, and I think we conceded 10 to 15 extra runs," Shadab asserted.

Notably, the United were on course to chase down the 187-run target as they needed just six runs off the final over, but they lost set batter Faheem Ashraf on the fourth delivery and ended up falling short by just two runs of the Kingsmen's total, and Shadab rued that losing wickets at crucial junctures had been the case throughout the fixture, and it ultimately dictated the outcome.

"We lost wickets at crucial times. I think I should have batted a bit better and taken the momentum. Whenever we got some momentum, we lost a wicket," Shadab stated.

"It was a bit of a mind game, and we could have read the situation a little better in the end. It was a good tournament for us," he added.

One of the positives for the three-time champions in the eight-team tournament was the rise of emerging opener Sameer Minhas, who finished with 349 runs in 11 innings at a decent average of 38.77 with the help of three half-centuries, and thus earned massive praise from his captain Shadab, who hailed him as an "exceptional talent".

He also applauded United's spin-bowling trio, comprising him, Imad Wasim and Chris Green, for bowling brilliantly throughout the tournament.

"We knew Sameer is an exceptional talent, and for him to perform at this level is remarkable," said Shadab.

"Our three spinners bowled really well throughout the tournament."