Lahore Qalandars clinched the Pakistan Super League (PSL) title for the second time in a row on Saturday.
Lahore defeated Multan by just one run in the final of PSL eight played at Gaddafi Stadium after a thrilling encounter.
Lahore won the toss and batted first, giving Multan a target of 201 runs thanks to Shaheen Afridi’s aggressive innings of 44 runs off 15 balls.
A day earlier, Lahore ended their streak of not being able to chase down the target when they successfully chased down the target against Peshawar Zalmi on a difficult wicket.
Lahore had a slightly better start in the final against Multan today.
Openers Mirza Baig and Fakhar Zaman had brought the score to 38 runs in five overs and Mirza (30 runs) became a victim of Ehsanullah.
Fakhar formed a good partnership with Abdullah Shafiq and took the score to 95 runs in the 12th over.
On this occasion, Fakhar scored 39 runs and caught Usman Khan on Osama Mir’s ball.
After that, Lahore suddenly fell three wickets up and their total score was 112 for five wickets.
Wicketkeeper Sam Billings (nine runs), Ehsan Hafeez (0 runs) and Sikandar Raza (one run) could not support Abdullah standing at the other end.
On this occasion, captain Shaheen Afridi decided to stop David Wesa, who was already sitting, and then what a miracle he did.
He scored 66 runs off 27 balls in a sixth wicket partnership with Abdullah, of which Shaheen scored 26 runs off just nine balls.
Abdullah took full advantage of his dropped catch at zero and played an innings of 65 runs off 40 balls.
Shaheen hit a total of five sixes in his innings of 44 runs, three of which came off the bowling of Multan’s successful bowler Ehsanullah.
On behalf of Multan, Osama Mir gave 24 runs and took three wickets while Anwar Ali, Ehsanullah and Khushdal Shah took one wicket each.
In reply, Multan’s opening of the innings was not much different from Lahore. Opener Usman Khan (18 runs) was bowled by David Wiese for a total of 41 in the fourth over.
One-down batsman Riley Russo supported captain opener Mohammad Rizwan well and took the score to 105.
However, Russo was bowled by Rashid Khan’s ball. He scored an aggressive 52 off 32 balls, which included seven fours and two sixes.
Rizwan also fell victim to Rashid Khan on 122 runs. After his departure, Kieron Pollard and Tim David kept their team in the final match.
This section contains related reference points (Related Nodes field).
However, when both of them left, the match became sensational and all the responsibility fell on the shoulders of Dil Shah himself.
He tried to score in Zaman Khan’s last over, but Zaman’s excellent bowling ensured his team’s victory.
Khush Dil had to score three runs off the last ball but could only score two runs.
On behalf of Lahore, Shaheen scored 51 runs and dismissed four batsmen. Spinner Rashid Khan took two wickets while Visay got one.
This is the second time that the teams of Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans have faced each other in the final.
Earlier, the final of the last season was also played between the same two teams, which Lahore won and became the champion of PSL for the first time.