Qalandars trump Sultans to win PSL

LAHORE: Lahore Qalandars outplayed defending champions Multan Sultans in all departments of the game in the final to snatch away the Pakistan Super League title here at the packed to capacity Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday night.

Though Lahore was jittery in the early stages of the match, it fought back reasonably well through veteran batter Mohammad Hafeez with his all-round performance and from HarryBrook and David Wiese squash-buckling batting. Lahore hammered 180 runs for five and with their decent bowling squeezed Multan to only get 138 for all for their maiden PSL-7 trophy.

Lahore after they pulled out a fighting total went for Sultans hunt and despite they were smashed for 36 runs in first three overs, they pegged them back. It was Hafeez who took the shine away from Rizwan for his 14, Fakhar ran out Shan Masood and then again Hafeez grabbed Aamer Azmat’s wicket. Suddenly, Multan was at 46 for three and afterwards they kept losing wickets consistently.

Asif Afridi who was preferred over Tim David up the order also left poorly increasing the pressure on Multan. However, Rilee Rossouw made 15 but the pressure of increased run-rate was big. Only Tim David and Khushdil Shah stayed at the crease for some time to get 51 runs together. But Shaheen Afridi broke their partnership with Tim making 27 in 17 balls. Khushdil then saw David Willey out for a dusk, also the victim of Shaheen.

Khushdil, however, remained the highest scorer of Multan’s lineup with 23-ball 32, aided with four boundaries and a six while the rest of his teammates went cheaply and only Shahnawaz remained not out.

Shaheen Shah finished his attack with the figures of three for 30 while Hafeez after his clever batting also made his bowling count taking two wickets – of Mohammad Rizwan and Aamer Azmat. Zaman Khan also had two wickets while Haris Rauf and David Wiese shared one wicket apiece.

At the time when Lahore were three down for 25 by the fifth over, Hafeez played a sheet-anchor role in building the innings, which was further bolstered by the presence of David Wiese and Harry Brook in the dead overs.

Multan's bowlers did well in the opening overs, taking three wickets in the first six and the eight overs between their spinners went for 41 with Asif Afridi picking up three. But Lahore later targeted their bowlers pulsating enough to post a commendable total. Electing to bat after winning the toss, Qalandars were clearly on the back-foot after early blows but Hafeez with responsible batting took the charge to score his half century to stabilize the score. Before falling to Shahnawaz Dahani, he made solid 69 in 46 balls. He timed nine boundaries and a six.

Veteran campaigner Hafeez also put on a valuable 54-runs partnership with Kamran Ghulam and just then Kamran headed back to the pavilion after getting 15 runs in 20 balls. But Hafeez kept the score going and even his departure did not block the runs from coming for Qalandars because Wiese and Brook came heavy with their bats on Multan bowlers getting 77 runs in the last five overs. They smashed 22 and 18 runs in the 19th and 20th overs respectively to take the score from 140 for five in the 18th over to 180 for five by the close of innings.

Both these batters remained not out with Brook 22-ball 41, laced with two boundaries and three sixes while Wiese smashing three sixes and a four produced valuable 28 in eight balls. And Qalandars had a score decent enough to apply pressure on Multan.

Brook later revealed that they were expected to have around 160 runs after early losses but they were happy to get 180. “We looked for 160 and are happy to get 180. Wiese came out and showed his quality. We were not thinking of any previous match and were focused on today’s match. It's another game of cricket so I looked to enjoy myself as I do in pressure situations. The crowd has been in great spirits. The pitch is similar to the other wickets, and was low and skiddy. We should win this with good bowling,” he believed.

Earlier, Lahore were off to a poor start as they lost the wickets of Abdullah Shafique, Zeeshan Ashraf, alongside in-form batter Fakhar Zaman for just 25 runs and Multan were in control. Sultans struck through Asif Afridi who bagged three wickets while Shahnawaz Dahani and David Willey struck out a batter each.