Shaheen shines as Qalandars crowned PSL 8 champions 

19 March, 2023

Lahore Qalandars emerged as the champions after beating Multan Sultans by just one run. Captain Shaheen Shah Afridi played a crucial role in their victory, shining both with the bat and ball. 

Chasing a daunting target of 201 runs, Multan came close and lost the match by only one run. Lahore also became the first team to successfully defend the PSL title. During the run-chase, David Wiese provided the breakthrough in the fourth over of the innings after dismissing opener Usman Khan. The right-hander scored 18 runs in 12 balls. 

Despite the early loss, Multan ensured that they kept up with the require run-rate as Rilee Rossouw and Mohammad Rizwan stitched an impressive partnership of 64 runs in 42 balls. However, Rossouw was cleaned up by Rashid Khan just when the batter threatened to take the game away from Lahore. The South African scored 52 runs in 32 balls.   

Rashid struck once again in his last over as Rizwan, 34 off 23, perished while trying to clear the long-on boundary. It took a brilliant bit of fielding from David Wiese who caught the ball, kept his balance and then flicked the ball back in the air as he stepped over the rope before reestablishing himself back inside the boundary to complete the catch.  

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Shaheen, who conceded 34 runs in his first two overs, came back in his second spell to clinch the wicket of the dangerous Kieron Pollard. The Windies all-rounder scored 19 runs in 16 balls. Shaheen also bagged three wickets in his final over to put Lahore in a strong position to win the match. However, Haris Rauf conceded 22 runs in the penultimate over to ensure a thrilling finish to the match. But Zaman Khan held his nerve to get his team over the line in the final over of the match.  

Earlier, Lahore Qalandars had a good start with Mirza Tahir Baig scoring 14 runs in the first two overs, but he couldn’t prolong his stay at the crease and lost his wicket after scoring 30 runs off 18 balls. However, Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafiq steadied the innings and added 57 runs for the second-wicket partnership. 

But things changed when spinner Usama Mir came into the attack and bowled Fakhar Zaman, Sam Billings, and Ahsan Hafeez in quick succession. The wicket of Sikandar Raza also fell soon after, and Lahore Qalandars were struggling at 112-5 in 14.1 overs.  

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However, captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and Abdullah Shafique played sensibly and added 66 runs for the sixth-wicket partnership. Shaheen also played a brilliant cameo in the end and scored 44 runs off just 15 balls (2 fours and 5 sixes), which helped Lahore Qalandars reach a decent total of 200 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. 

Multan Sultans' bowlers did a decent job with Usama Mir being the standout performer, claiming 3 wickets for 24 runs, while Khushdil Shah, Ihsanullah and Anwar Ali got one wicket each conceding 11, 37 and 46 runs respectively.  

SCORES IN BRIEF 

LAHORE QALANDARS 200-6 (Abdullah Shafique 65, Shaheen Afridi 44, Fakhar Zaman 39, Mirza Baig 30; Usama Mir 3-24) beat MULTAN SULTANS 199-8 (Rilee Roossouw 52, Muhammad Rizwan 34, Khushdil Shah 25; Shaheen Afridi 4-51, Rashid Khan 2-26) by 1 run.