PSL: Shaheen Afridi’s Lahore Qalandars Defeat Multan Sultan to Win Their Second Title

The current edition of the PSL has been interesting, especially watching big totals getting chased with ease. The season has come to an end with Lahore Qalandars’ dramatic 1-run victory over Multan Sultan. Shaheen Afridi and his team have now won two consecutive PSL titles. Lahore Qalandars won the toss and made a decision to bat first in the high-pressure game. Last game’s matchwinner Mirza Tahir Baig provided the team with the start that was needed.

After a decent start, Lahore Qalandars saw 3 quick wickets falling within a span of 2 runs. It was then, Shaheen Afridi played a captain’s knock when he promoted himself up the order in the PSL finals. There have been several instances earlier when Afridi has proved to be a powerful finisher but his knock of 44 runs from 15 balls consisting of 2 fours and 5 sixes was one of his bests. Apart from him, Abdullah Shafique played a crucial knock of 65 runs that helped the team reach 200 runs.

Lahore Qalandars win their second PSL title

Coming out to chase and win this year’s PSL title, Multan Sultan saw Rilee Rossouw smash bowlers all over the ground. Everyone in the batting line-up contributed 20 to 30 odd runs. Lahore Qalandars skipper after creating havoc with the bat picked up 4 important wickets but was a bit expensive. The game went to the wire with 13 runs needed in the final over. Zaman Khan was given the responsibility to defend those runs in the final over of the final game of PSL.

Abbas Afridi and Khushdil Shah were all set to give their all but Zaman wasn’t ready to give up. Multan Sultan needed 8 runs from the last 2 balls when Khushdil Shah picked up a boundary needing 4 from the last ball. On the last ball after running for 2 runs, Shah wanted to pick up the 3rd one but Zaman used the presence of his mind to run him out. This concluded the game with Lahore Qalandars winning the PSL final with 1 run.

After the victory, Shaheen Afridi said, “To reach the final second time and win again is a great feeling. Credit to the entire team and coaching staff for keeping us comfortable. I think it was tough early on when the momentum was swinging between them and us. But the idea was to fight till the very end and it paid off. At that time, I felt like I should go to bat and was lucky to get a few in the slot. This win is for all those Pakistani people who seek joy in PSL. They deserved a game like this.”