Lahore Qalandars won their third HBL PSL title by defeating Quetta Gladiators thanks to Sikandar Raza who scored 22 runs off 7 balls at the end of the exciting final.
Sikandar landed on Lahore airport from England and went straight to the Gaddafi Stadium, where he pulled off the crucial performance as Quetta Gladiators became the team with their third loss in the finals, most by any team.
The PSL 10 final started with the toss, where Quetta Gladiators’ captain Saud Shakeel winning the toss and choosing to bat first. Everyone was surprised because Sikandar Raza, who plays for Lahore Qalandars and hails from Zimbabwe, had left the country when the event was postponed due to tensions between Pakistan and India.
He returned, played a couple of matches, and then went back to England to fulfill his Test match commitment. He played a Test match for Zimbabwe against England, which ended just yesterday on the third day when Zimbabwe lost.
Sikandar Raza then caught a flight from England, came straight to Lahore, and played today’s PSL final. Playing a Test match one day and then a T20 league final the next was a big deal.
Quetta Gladiators’ Innings
The Gladiators, seeing the batting track, thought they could post a good score. They started heading towards that goal but faced trouble early when their first wicket fell at 17 runs — captain Saud Shakeel scored just 4 runs before being caught by Thisara Perera off a Shaheen Shah Afridi delivery. The second wicket, that of Finn Allen, was more valuable. The wicket fell at 21 runs in the fourth over. Finn Allen managed only 12 runs before falling to Salman Mirza, caught by Haris Rauf.
From there, Quetta got some help from South African Rilee Rossouw and Hassan Nawaz, who pushed the score forward. Rilee Rossouw played beautifully, hitting one six and four fours, scoring 22 runs off 11 balls before being caught by Shaheen Shah Afridi off Sikandar Raza’s bowling. At this point, Quetta’s score was 58 for 3.
Then came Avishka Fernando to join Hassan Nawaz. Both quickly advanced the score to 125. Before the 13th over ended, Fernando scored a fine 29 before falling to Irshad Hussain, caught by Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Dinesh Chandimal followed, batting briskly, scoring 22 runs off 13 balls with the help of two sixes. His wicket was taken by Shaheen Shah Afridi. Just one run later, Lahore took a huge wicket when Hassan Nawaz, who was playing an impressive innings, was dismissed after scoring 76 runs off 43 balls. His was caught by Sikandar Raza off Shaheen Afridi. Hassan had hit 4 sixes and 8 fours and finished with 399 runs in the tournament — just 1 short of 400.
Quetta suffered another blow when Mohammad Amir was bowled by Haris Rauf for a duck. The next batter, Abrar Ahmed, was also dismissed on the first ball, caught by Shaheen Afridi off Haris Rauf. Thus, Quetta lost 4 wickets while adding just 2 runs to their total (from 171 to 173) and wasted 8 balls. This collapse blocked their path to a big total. However, Faheem Ashraf was still there and played an explosive knock in the last 8 balls, particularly in the final over, pushing Quetta’s total past 200. He scored 28 runs off 8 balls, with three sixes and two fours, and scored 23 runs in the last over against Salman Mirza, whose 4 overs ended with 51 runs and 2 wickets.
Shaheen Shah Afridi — Top Wicket-Taker of PSL 10
Shaheen Shah Afridi was a successful bowler, taking 3 wickets for 24 runs. With this performance, he became the top wicket-taker of PSL 10, with 19 wickets. Besides Salman Mirza’s two wickets, Haris Rauf also took 2 wickets for 41 runs. Sikandar Raza took one wicket for 43 runs, and Irshad Hussain also took one. Shaheen also took 3 catches in this innings.
Quetta Gladiators finished with 201 runs for 9 wickets in 20 overs.
Lahore Qalandars’ Innings
Lahore started their chase of 202 runs, with big hopes from Fakhar Zaman, but it was Mohammad Naeem who displayed his class. Both provided a rapid start of 39 runs in 1.9 overs. Fakhar Zaman was dismissed by mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed for just 11 runs. His attempt to win the Hanif Mohammad Cap (awarded for most runs) was thwarted by 10 runs, as he couldn’t surpass Islamabad’s Sahibzada Farhan’s 449 runs.
Quetta faced disappointment when Usman Tariq dropped a simple catch of the set batter Mohammad Naeem, allowing him to push the score to 85 in 8.1 overs. Relief came for Quetta when Mohammad Naeem was caught by Fernando off Faheem Ashraf’s bowling for 46 runs off 27 balls (6 sixes and 1 four).
Abdullah Shafique started his innings as if he would replicate his explosive performance from two matches ago. He played well and took the score to 115. Here, Abdullah Shafique was dismissed for 41 runs off 28 balls, caught by Usman Tariq.
Kusal Perera and Raja Pakasa came together but slowed down the scoring. Captain Saud Shakeel brought in Mohammad Amir in the 17th over, and he didn’t disappoint, dismissing Raja Pakasa for 14 runs off 16 balls, caught by Fernando.
Lahore needed 47 runs in the last 3 overs, and Sikandar Raza immediately struck two boundaries off Amir. The next over went for 16 runs, leaving 31 required off the last 2 overs. Amir’s next over went for 18 runs, leaving just 13 runs needed in the final over. Faheem Ashraf came in, with Kusal Perera at the crease.
With 3 balls left and 8 runs needed, Sikandar Raza hit a six to make the task easier. Now just 2 runs were needed off 2 balls — not difficult. Lahore Qalandars completed the target, scoring 204 runs for 4 wickets in 19.5 overs, winning the final. Kusal Perera remained unbeaten with 62 off 31 balls, and Sikandar Raza was not out on 22 off 7 balls. Mohammad Amir gave away 41 runs for 1 wicket, and Faheem Ashraf conceded 49 for 1. Abrar gave away 27 runs for 1 wicket, and Usman Tariq gave away 38 runs for 1 wicket.
