2023 season of Pakistan Super League has come to an end with Lahore Qalandars winning the title. Shaheen Afridi and his team have won the title for the 2nd year in a row. The game on Saturday was a pulsating affair with the match going well into the final over. Zaman Khan, the 21 year old was the hero for Lahore as his last over heroics, won Lahore their 2nd successive title.
Multan Sultans needs 13 in the final over โ
Zaman Khan is a young 21 year old fast bowler who has a slingy action and can bowl with good pace. Bowling his and the gameโs final over, Zaman Khan was tasked with defending 13 for Lahore. The first ball of the over was a top edge which got 2 runs for Abbas Afridi. The 2nd ball fetched a single off a yorker, while the third ball was a dot ball, which meant Multan needed 10 off the last 3 balls.
Chaotic end to the game โ
With 10 needed of 3, Zaman Khan came to bowl the 4th ball of the over. Kushdil Shah swung and missed and there were 2 byes on offer as Zaman Khan missed a run out. With 8 needed of 2, Shah hit a boundary to make it 4 needed off 1 ball.
Shah got a yorker and he swung it towards the leg side. Both the Multan batters completed two runs. David Wiese running in from the boundary threw the ball to the bowlerโs end as Shaheen Afridi the Lahore captain broke the stumps. Multan had lost by 1 run and defended their title in a thrilling game.
๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ โจ
โ PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 18, 2023
Zaman Khan is just built different ๐#HBLPSL8 | #SabSitarayHumaray | #MSvLQ pic.twitter.com/2V38qNElmg
Lahore get a rousing start thanks to their top 3 โ
Shaheen Afridi won the toss and chose to bat first at his home ground in Lahore. Mirza Baig came out to open with Fakhar Zaman and did the damage with the bat, as he scored 30 off 18 balls. Baigโs innings had 5 fours and a six, as he contributed to 30 out of the 38 runs for the 1st wicket stand.
Fakhar Zaman was joined by Abdullah Shafique as the duo added 57 runs for the 2nd wicket. While Shafique was looking to score quick, Fakhar Zaman was happy to play the 2nd fiddle.
Shaheen Afridi leads Lahore to 200 after Usama Mirโs triple blow โ
The introduction of Usama Mir changed the game as Multan made a comeback. Mir first got Fakhar Zaman out for 39, before getting the wickets of Sam Billings for 9 and Ahsan Bhatti for a duck. Kushdil Shah then got the wicket of Sikandar Raza who was bowled for 1.
Shafique and Shaheen then joined forces to add 66 runs for the 6th wicket in just 27 balls. Shafique was out for 65 off 40 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes. Afridi was not out on 44 off 15 balls with 2 fours and 5 sixes as Lahore reached 200 on the board.
So near yet so far for Multan โ
Chasing 201 to win, Multan got a fast start thanks to Usman Khan and Mohammad Rizwan, as the duo added 41 in 3.3 overs. Wiese broke the sand when he bowled out Usman Khan for 18. Rizwan and Rossouw then added 64 for the 2nd wicket in stand which came off 7 overs.
Lahore broke the stand when they had both Rossouw and Rizwan out in a space of 2 overs. Rossouw top scored with 52 off 32 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes, while Rizwan scored 34 off 23 balls with 5 fours. Pollard (19), Tim David (20) and Kushdil Shah (25) tried to fightback but to no avail. Shaheen Afridi was the star with the ball with figures of 4/51 as his team won their 2nd PSL title in a row.