KARACHI: Hyderabad Kingsmen head coach Jason Gillespie has demanded more accountability from his players after the batting unit failed again in a tense loss to Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) Match 11 at the National Bank Stadium on Wednesday.
During the post-match press conference, Gillespie reflected on his team’s recent performances and identified key areas that needed improvement, including batting consistency, individual responsibility and execution at critical match stages.
Despite the setbacks, the former Australian all-rounder struck an optimistic note about the upcoming tournament.
“Firstly, we expect Maxwell to be available for the next two games – we’re waiting for final confirmation,” Gillespie said. “We were close in a few matches, especially the last two, and we had chances to push the game forward.”
The 50-year-old, who also served as Pakistan’s head coach, has not shied away from criticizing his team’s top-order failures.
“In our first two games, we didn’t bat well enough. We have a lot of amazing talent in our team, but that doesn’t take the responsibility off the players,” he said. “All our players are expected to do their job. If you are selected to play for Hyderabad, you are expected to perform well.”
He assessed the team’s overall approach, admitting that while some elements of their game worked well, an overall performance was elusive.
“We’re doing some parts of the game well, but we need to put the whole package together. We’re not consistently doing that at the moment, we’re reflecting on that,” he said.
Overcoming recent defeat, Gillespie pointed to two costly games with the bat.
“Ultimately, tonight’s game came down to a couple of short spells. We lost wickets in the first six overs, despite a good partnership between Marnes and Gusal, and again at the back end. We know we have to be better and we will be.”
Batting first, the Kingsmen were bowled out for just 145 in 18.2 overs, stifled by a dominant spell from Peshawar’s spin duo Iftikhar Ahmed and Sufyan Mukeem.
Hyderabad’s top order offered little resistance: Mas Sadaq 17, Saim Ayub 14, Sharjeel Khan and Usman Khan fell cheaply for two and a golden duck respectively.
Kusal Perera scored 58 off 35 balls including 5 fours and 2 sixes. Marnus Labuschagne scored 27 off one ball with three fours, while Irfan Khan and Hasan Khan scored nine runs each. Mahesh Deekshana and Hunain Shah were dismissed as ducks.
In reply, Peshawar Zalmi toiled during the chase but eventually reached the target in the final ball of the 20th over. Iftikhar Ahmed (15 runs) and Amir Jamal (6 runs) worked calmly and secured the victory.
Captain Babar Azam top-scored with 43 runs off 37 balls with 6 fours, while Gusal Mendis and Michael Bracewell added 27 and 25 runs respectively.