LAHORE, Feb 28 ( Alliance News): In the final of the seventh edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL), Lahore Qalandars defeated defending champions Multan Sultans and became the champions.
In the final played at the crowded Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the host Lahore Qalandars won the toss and invited the Multan Sultans to bowl first.
Qalandars started the innings with Fakhr Zaman wicket in the third over of the innings in an attempt to hit a six to Asif Afridi who was caught by Shahnawaz Dhani.
The Qalandars had not yet recovered from the loss when Zeeshan Ashraf caught the wicket-keeper in the next over in an attempt to play the ball going out of David Willie.
The Sultans soon got a chance to take another wicket but could not catch the catch of fielder Kamran Ghulam.
However, Asif Afridi gave the team another big victory in his next over and also ended the innings of Abdullah Shafiq, who scored a half-century in the last match, who was stumped in an attempt to get out of the crease.
After losing three wickets, Mohammad Hafeez came to Kamran Ghulam’s side and both of them started advancing the score slowly.
Hafeez is still in good form today as compared to the previous matches and along with Kamran Ghulam formed a partnership of 54 runs for the fourth wicket.
Before this partnership could prove dangerous, the Sultans took the fourth wicket with the wicket of Kamran Ghulam who scored 15 off 20 balls.
Kamran Ghulam tried to hit a six to Asif Afridi but on the boundary Shaun Masood and Tim David together made a good catch and made Kamran walk.
Veteran Mohammad Hafeez at the other end scored a half century in the big match.
Hafeez and Harry Brook put on a 58-run stand for the fifth wicket.
In the closing overs, David Wiese once again displayed aggressive batting and was fully supported by Harry Brook.
Both the players put up a good performance in the last two overs and scored 40 runs which helped Qalandars to score 180 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in the stipulated overs.
Harry Brook played an innings of 41 off 22 balls while David Wiese scored 28 off just 8 balls.
In pursuit of the target, the openers gave the team a 36-run lead, but on the last ball of the fourth over, Rizwan had to give up the wicket and play a sweep shot and he was bowled by Hafeez.
As soon as Rizwan’s dismissal, the Sultans began to come under pressure and as a result, Shaun Masood ran for an unnecessary one and a direct throw of pride as well as the laziness of the opener himself led to his return to the pavilion.
Aamir Azmat also managed to score only six runs while Asif Afridi became the wicket of Zaman Khan while Sultans had lost 4 important wickets for 50 runs.
A big innings was expected from Riley Russo on this occasion but Abdullah Shafiq’s brilliant catch on the boundary ended his work too.
Khushdal Shah came to support Tim David after half the team was out for 63 runs and both of them tried to bring their team back in the match by forming a partnership of 51 runs.
To break this partnership, Shaheen Shah Afridi decided to bowl on his own and with the help of Fakhr Zaman, he overcame Tim David’s 27-run resistance and then two balls later, David Willie’s wickets on a brilliant yorker.
Khushdal Shah was the most successful batsman of the Sultans with 32 runs but Harris got him running and sealed the victory for his team.
The entire Multan Sultans were bowled out for 138 in the last over of the innings and the Qalandars won the match by 42 runs to clinch the title for the first time.
For Qalandars, captain Shaheen bowled brilliantly and took three wickets while Zaman Khan Muhammad Hafeez took two wickets each.
Muhammad Hafeez was declared the man of the match for his excellent batting and bowling.
Ahsan Raza was declared the best umpire of the tournament and Zaman Khan of Lahore Qalandars was declared the best emerging bowler of the tournament.
The Spirit of Cricket award was given to Multan Sultans while the best all-rounder and best fielder awards were given to Khushdal Shah.
The award for best wicket-keeper was given to Multan Sultans captain Mohammad Rizwan while Shadab Khan, who took 19 wickets, was given the award for best bowler.
Fakhr Zaman, who scored the most runs, was awarded the best batsman of the event while Muhammad Rizwan was also awarded the best player of the tournament.
Pakistan Super League winner Lahore Qalandars team was given a prize money of Rs 8 crore while runner-up Multan Sultans will be given Rs 32 million.
President Dr. Arif Alvi and Governor Punjab Chaudhry Sarwar were also present in the stadium to watch the match.
Last year, Multan Sultans were given a prize money of Rs 7.5 crore for winning the trophy while runner-up Peshawar Zalmi received a check of Rs 3 crore.
Apart from this, the highest, most wickets, best fielder, wicket keeper, emerging player, best all-rounder and umpire will also be awarded Rs 30 lakh.
The Pakistan Cricket Board will also give a Spirit of Cricket Award of Rs. 35 lakhs.
Both teams consisted of these players for the match.
Lahore Qalandars: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Fakhr Zaman, Zeeshan Ashraf, Abdullah Shafiq, Kamran Ghulam, Muhammad Hafeez, Harry Brooke, Samit Patel, David Visay, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan.
Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Shaun Masood, Riley Russo, Khushdal Shah, Tim David, Amir Azmat, Asif Afridi, Rome.