It is also unfinished! The real form of T20 was seen in the PSL final. Breathless finish, nerve-racking excitement, four sixes – what wasn’t there in the PSL final?
Shaheen Shah Afridi’s all-around performance is the reason for Multan Sultans’ narrow defeat. Just as Afridi was devastating with the bat, he was also very effective with the ball. After scoring 44 runs in just 15 balls, he took four wickets alone. After such a single performance, the opponent’s waist is not supposed to stand straight.
However, Multan Sultans fought fiercely. They almost reached the target of 201 runs needed to win. But in the end, he couldn’t. Mohammad Rizwan’s team Multan’s life force ended when they were just one run away. As a result, Lahore Qalandars won the PSL title for the second time in a row by winning the final by just one run.
Multan Sultans had a great chance to avenge their loss in the last final against Lahore Qalandars. But it was not taken. Instead, Lahore retained the Pakistan Super League title by repeating history. Shaheen Afridi leaves the field as PSL champion for 2 consecutive times.
Shaheen Afridi Lahore won the Pakistan Super League final last year by defeating Rizwan Multan Sultans by 42 runs. This time also two teams face each other in the title fight of PSL. This time, Afridi took the title by winning Ruddhashwas by just 1 run.
It should be noted that Lahore Qalandars started their campaign by defeating Multan Sultans by 1 run in the first match of the Pakistan Super League this year. They ended the campaign by winning by 1 run against Multan in the final.
In the final, Lahore Qalandars won the toss and went to bat first. They scored 200 runs for 6 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs. Abdullah Shafiq scored a storming half-century. He scored 65 off 40 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes. In the end, Shaheen Afridi remained unbeaten by playing a destructive inning of 44 runs from just 15 balls. He hit 2 fours and 5 sixes in Mercatori’s innings.
Besides, Mirza Beg scored 30 runs off 18 balls with the help of 5 fours and 1 six. Fakhar Zaman scored 39 runs off 34 balls. He hit 4 fours and 1 six. Sam Billings 9 and Sikander Raja 1 run out. Ehsan Hafiz could not open the account. David Wise remained not out by scoring 2 runs.
Usama Mir took 3 wickets for 24 runs for Multan. Anwar Ali, Ihsanullah, and Khushdil Shah took 1 wicket each. Kieron Pollard did not get a wicket.
In response, Multan Sultans got stuck at 199 runs for 8 wickets in 20 overs. Multan needed four runs off the last ball to win. Khushdil was run-out trying to tie the match with 3 runs.
Riley Russo’s fighting half-century failed as the team lost. He scored 52 runs off 32 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Mohammad Rizwan scored 34 runs off 23 balls. He hit 5 fours. Besides Usman Khan 18, Kieron Pollard 19, Tim David 20, Khushdil Shah 25, Anwar Ali 1, and Abbas Afridi scored 17 runs.
Shaheen Afridi took 4 wickets despite spending 51 runs in 4 overs. Rashid Khan took 2 wickets for 26 runs. David Wise took 1 wicket. Lahore Qalandars are the first team to win 2 consecutive PSL Champions. Earlier no team had once become PSL champions and retained their title in the following season.
IHS/MS
