Thrilling final sees Lahore successfully defend PSL title

Thrilling final sees Lahore successfully defend PSL title

Lahore Qalandars defeated Multan Sultans in the final once more to become the PSL champions for the second time in a row, led by an all-around performance from Shaheen Afridi in a thrilling, high-scoring final at the Gaddafi Stadium. Lahore Qalandars won by one run to become the PSL champions for the second time in a row. The Qalandars finished with 200/6 thanks to Shaheen's 15-ball 44 not out and Abdullah Shafique's 40-ball 65. The Sultans came close thanks to Rilee Rossouw's half-century and the other batters' useful contributions, but the Qalandars held their nerve in a game that went up and down, with Shaheen taking four wickets.

With a flurry of boundaries from Usman Khan and Mohammad Rizwan, the Sultans quickly got going in the chase. David Wiese ended Usman's stay in the fourth over after he hit four fours. However, the Sultans continued to fire shots, as Rizwan and Rossouw drove them past 50 in the fifth over to reach 72 before the powerplay expired. The following three overs yielded 29 as the Rulers controlled beyond 100, with Rossouw getting to a 30-ball fifty.

Rashid Khan, on the other hand, was keeping it tight from his end and had Rossouw bowled in the end. With figures of 2 for 26, the Afghanistan legspinner had Wiese to thank for Rizwan's wicket. Wiese made a great catch. After that, Tim David hit a few fours to bring the total to 60 off the last five overs. In addition, Kieron Pollard struck a four off Shaheen Afridi but was caught short. Despite this, the Sultans were able to reach 150 in 16 overs, setting up an exciting finish to a high-scoring final.

David and Khushdil Shah set timely limits to keep the required rate from getting out of hand, even though it was over 12 and growing. However, in the 18th over, Shaheen struck a crucial blow when he took David's wicket thanks to a second excellent catch from Wiese. Khushdil scored a four in the same over, but Shaheen took two more wickets by bowling Anwar Ali and getting Usama Mir caught at point, leaving the Sultans needing 35 runs in the final two overs. The Sultans were hoping for a big over in the 19th, when Haris Rauf hit 22. Abbas Afridi followed with a six and two fours to leave the Sultans needing 13 off the final over after Khushdil started with a six in the over.

After only two runs from Zaman Khan's first three deliveries, two byes reduced the total to eight from the final two. In a tense final, the Qalandars prevailed after Khushdil hit a four off the fifth ball but could only manage a couple off Zaman's yorker.

Prior, the Qalandars got off to an energetic beginning in the wake of selecting to bat. This time, Mirza Tahir Baig was the aggressor, scoring 30 in a 38-run opening stand with Fakhar Zaman before Ihsanullah ended his stay. He had just scored the match-winning fifty in the second Eliminator. The Qalandars advanced past fifty in the seventh over thanks to some boundaries from Fakhar, who was on 7 off 12. Abbas Afridi was pulled for a six by Abdullah Shafique, who also played a pretty shot over cover for a four off Pollard. The Qalandars reached 82/1 at the halfway point of their innings after Shafique struck a four and Fakhar cleared the fence off Ihsanullah.

Fakhar and Shafique shared a century before Fakhar was bowled out by Mir in the 12th over while trying to pull the ball. Khushdil Shah ensured that Sikandar Raza had a brief stay at the crease as the Qalandars lost four wickets for 16 runs to slip to 112/5 in the 15th over. Although Sam Billings hit a six off Mir, the bowler responded by dismissing the England batter and Ahsan Bhatti off successive deliveries.

At that point, the Qalandars should have been aiming for a total between 150 and 160, but captain Shaheen had other ideas. He hit two fours and five sixes, and he and Shafique put on a 66-run stand in 27 deliveries, giving the Qalandars 85 runs off their last five overs. The death overs charge began with Mir's 14-run miss, which was followed in the 17th by Ihsanullah's loss of 24 runs. Shaheen scored two sixes, a four, and five wides in the over. After Pollard dropped Shafique on 0, he hit two fours off Abbas for a 35-ball fifty before hitting a six and two fours off Anwar. Shaheen ended the over with a six, despite being dismissed, as 22 came off the penultimate over. The Qalandars captain helped his team to a successful conclusion by scoring a boundary and a maximum off Abbas in the final over.

Brief ratings: Lahore Qalandars 200/6 out of 20 overs (Abdullah Shafique 65, Shaheen Afridi 44*; In 20 overs, Usama Mir (3-24) defeated the Multan Sultans (Rilee Rossouw, 52, Mohammad Rizwan, 34; by one run (Shaheen Afridi, 4-51).

Clinical Qalandars defeat Peshawar Zalmi to reach the PSL final for the second time in a row. Lahore Qalandars defeated Peshawar Zalmi by four wickets in their Eliminator 2 match on Friday (March 17). Due to the fact that the Multan Sultans have already secured their place in the summit matchup, the final will be a repeat of the previous season.

Babar Azam, captain of Peshawar, chose to bat after winning the good toss. The first was, of course, his team's efforts with the ball in Eliminator 1, in which they made good use of the dry surface of the Gaddafi Stadium. Second, neither Lahore nor any other team had a successful chase at this location this season.

Even though Saim Ayub was bowled early by Zaman Khan, Babar and Mohammad Haris got the game off to a fast start and batted well into the innings, putting together roughly half of the team's runs. The two of them executed an excellent powerplay and maintained it throughout the middle overs, going aggressively against Rashid Khan with skill.

However, after their skipper was dismissed, Zalmi's innings lost steam once more in the second half, just like it did on Thursday (March 16). The defending champions' bowling attack roared back in the back end as a result of the older ball sticking a little on the surface. Rashid slowed the scoring rate by removing Babar and Tom Kohler-Cadmore in the same over to start the slide.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa made an important cameo in the final overs to help Haris push the score past the 170-run mark despite the wickets falling. Zalmi were on track for at least 10-15 more points with their foundation, despite the competitive score.

The run chase was supposed to be difficult, and it got really messy right away when the fit Fakhar Zaman was killed by a shot that was unusually bad. After that, Qalandars made a smart move by moving Ahsan Bhatti, who was playing his first game of the season, up to No. 3 because he was a left-handed player and the goal was to get some quick runs on the powerplay.

Even though Mirza Tahir Baig anchored the innings from the opposing end, Bhatti did bring some tempo while he was there, even though he only lasted a short time. The latter received solid support from the majority of batters, particularly Sikandar Raza and Sam Billings, as Lahore consistently overcharged. Toward the end, they did lose a few wickets, but Baig made sure that the outcome was not in doubt.

Brief ratings: Peshawar Zalmi lost to Lahore Qalandars 176/6 in 18.5 overs (Mirza Tahir Baig 54, Sam Billings 28, Azmatullah Omarzai 2-30) by four wickets on March 16 A.

The Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore has good batting surfaces, but the older, softer ball makes it increasingly difficult to score. This is even more true when the field is as dry as it was during this game. Thus, the two sides got off to rankling powerplays, Peshawar all the more so as they piled up 77 in the initial six overs with captain Babar Azam specifically searching in fine touch.

Mohammad Haris also made a nice cameo, but Peshawar's innings slowed down after the two of them fell. At the back end, even the typically dependable Tom Kohler-Cadmore had a lot of trouble. After Babar was bowled out, only 46 runs were scored in the remaining 42 balls, and Peshawar also lost five wickets in the process..