Under a shower of floodlights at Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday, Lahore Qalandars took their third Pakistan Super League (PSL) title by chasing 202 runs and ending with four wickets and two balls left. Without Kusal Perera’s great play and Sikandar Raza’s assured hitting, Lahore would not have won the last match of PSL 10 against Quetta Gladiators—Lahore’s Adventure in the Mines. With a challenging goal to reach, Lahore kicked things off with vast success. The team lost Fakhar Zaman early, but Naeem and Shafique worked together for a 46-run partnership. Naeem made a brilliant 46 with six big hits, but was trapped out in the ninth.
Abdullah Shafique hit 41 runs off 28 balls to help guide Lahore to 115/4. Though the chase seemed tense, Kusal Perera remained calm and found Bhanuka Rajapaksa, scoring 30, for company before Rajapaksa returned to the pavilion having made 14. When their team needed just 57 runs, Perera (62* from 37) and Raza (28* from 16) connected and scored an unbeaten 59 runs to clinch the win in the second-last over. Quetta’s Dominating Batting was Spectacular. Quetta Gladiators had a great start, scoring 201/9 after opting to bat first. Hasan Nawaz’s sparkling 76 runs from 43 deliveries, featuring eight boundaries and four sixes, made the difference in this innings. He built a good base alongside Avishka Fernando (29 off 22), finding 67 runs together.
Quetta managed to recover after losing both openers early thanks to the partnership of Hasan Nawaz and Rilee Rossouw. Rossouw only managed to make 22 before a special catch dismissed him by Shaheen Afridi. Quetta seemed set to score another 220, but Lahore put up a good fight. Chandimal and Nawaz fell thanks to Shaheen’s bowling in the 18th over, which stopped the hosts’ positive run. But in the final flourish, Faheem Ashraf hit 28 off eight balls, with three sixes and two fours, before being dismissed in the last over. Bowling Moments from Lahore Shaheen Afridi shone with the ball, finishing 3/24.
Salman Mirza and Haris Rauf shared four wickets, but they were on the expensive side. Even with the Gladiators’ strong middle batting, the bowlers from Lahore ensured there wasn’t a big scoring spurt at any point. Total Score for your Widget: Raza Hasan came to the rescue with 76 as the match was nearly decided. Still, Shaheen Afridi and Faheem Ashraf made the difference for Quetta, limiting the rest of Karachi Zales to finish on 201/9. Kusal Perera made a gutsy 62, Naeem hit a nice 46, and Raza scored 28 to end up with 202/4 for Lahore by 19.4 overs.
Playing XI: Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Naeem, Abdullah Shafique, Kusal Perera, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Asif Ali, Sikandar Raza, Shaheen Afridi (capt), Rishad Hossain, Salman Mirza, Haris Rauf are on the Lahore Qalandars team. Saud Shakeel will captain Quetta Gladiators, along with Abrar Ahmed, Hassan Nawaz, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Avishka Fernando, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Amir, Khurram Shahzad, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Tariq and Finn Allen Lahore Qalandars won again, this time in a thrilling way, to keep their dominance in the PSL with their third title. Having experience and youth on their side and staying calm when the pressure was greatest made the difference in their latest grand slam win.
