So the day has finally come, well a day earlier than is. But that doesn’t matter as far as we are having fun right? The final is played on 18 March 2023. Well, for the ones who bought the tickets, they worked on 18 as well. But that doesn’t worry you now, does it? Lahore Qalandars will be looking forward to defending their title and becoming the first PSL team in history to defend their title, while the Multan Sultans will be looking forward to doing what they couldn’t do against the Qalandars during the 2022 finale.
The Qalandars barely managed to make their way toward the finals. Their ace bowler, Shaheen is not in form. But he will be looking forward to picking some early wickets to make a chance for his team.
While the Sultans are in the game. Their batsman, Rizwan is the top batsman this season. They also have the top two bowlers this season. Their speed gun Ihsanullah will be looking forward to rattling the wickets
Lahore Qalandars v Multan Sultans – PSL 8 FINALE DETAILS
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| GADDAFI STADIUM LAHORE | |
| Match | Lahore Qalandars v Multan Sultans |
| Date | Saturday, March 18, 2023 |
| Time | 7:00 PM |
| Match number | 34 |
| Stage | FINALE |
| Umpires | Alex Wharf |
| Rashid Riaz | |
| TV Umpire | Asif Yaqoob |
| Reserve Umpire | Faisal Afridi |
| Match Referee | Roshan Mahanama |
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Toss
Things have started well for the defending champions. The Qalandars won the toss, and they decided to bat first. Let’s see if they can post a total that will strengthen their position to defend their title and win the Supernova.
At the same time, the Sultans will be looking forward to destroying their batting lineup with their quality bowlers.
Playing 11 – Multan Sultans v Lahore Qalandars
Seems like both teams will be going with their best combination. Rizwan, Russouw, Usama, and Ihsanullah will be the players to look out for in Multan Sultans. While the Sultans have to keep Fakhar, Abdullah, Sikandar, Shaheen, Rashid, Haris, and Zaman under check.
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| LAHORE QALANDARS | MULTAN SULTANS |
| Fakhar Zaman | Mohammad Rizwan |
Mirza Baig | Usman Khan |
| Abdullah Shafique | Rilee Rossouw |
Sam Billings | Kieron Pollard |
| Ahsan Hafeez | Tim David |
Sikandar Raza | Khushdil Shah |
| David Wiese | Anwar Ali |
Shaheen Shah Afridi | Usama Mir |
| Rashid Khan | Abbas Afridi |
Haris Rauf | Sheldon Cottrell |
| Zaman Khan | Ihsanullah |
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Lahore Qalandars – 200
- Things started to look good for the Qalandars since the toss. They won it and were going to bat first. And the start was quite good as Mirza thrashed Multan bowlers for quick 30 runs. Unfortunately, Ihsanullah, the man of the series got him out.
- After that, Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah had a great partnership of 57 runs in 38 deliveries. They were looking good. However, Usama Mir broke this partnership with a short delivery. That was a great catch from Usman Khan.
- Things didn’t look good for the next three batters who went out without contributing much to the scoreboard.
- But it was Abdullah and Shaheen’s 66-run partnership on 27 deliveries that steered the team to a good total. And to be honest, it was Shaheen who was the main contributor. We could see a glimpse of the father-in-law in Afridi.
- Unfortunately, Abdullah couldn’t continue his batting past 65 runs as Anwar Ali took him out on a ball that was pitched up.
- Lahore Qalandars were successful in scoring 200 runs. The target of 201 runs is quite competitive. Things look good for the defending champs. They might as well become the first team to defend the championship.
- Among the bowlers, Usama Mir was the highlight as he took 3 wickets. Khushdil, Anwar, and Ihsanullah were only able to take single wickets.
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| LAHORE QALANDARS 200-6 | |
| BATTING | BOWLING |
| Abdullah Shafique 65(40) | Usama Mir 3-24 |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi 44(15) | Khushdil Shah 1-11 |
| Fakhar Zaman 39(34) | Anwar Ali 1-46 |
| Mirza Baig 30(18) | Ihsanullah 1-37 |
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Multan Sultans – 199
- The Sultan openers had no chill as Usman and Rizzy had an opening stand of 41 runs in mere 21 deliveries. But things couldn’t proceed as David Wiese got him out on a slower one.
- Now, Rilee and Rizwan were on the pitch. They have been the most lethal batsmen of the tournament. And it was crucial for the Qalandars to get them out of the ground quickly. Were they able to do that?
- Alas! The defending champs couldn’t do that. Rilee and Rizwan had a partnership of 64 runs in 44 deliveries.
- Lahore needed a breakthrough, and the magical Rashid did the trick. He broke the partnership and got Russow out on a stunning catch by Wiese. It was at this moment, that Multan knew, they lost the game. You have to give credit to David here. Without his athletics, this match was out of Lahore’s grasp.
- Rizwan followed his partner and got out after making 34 runs.
- After that, there were few contributions from the batters here and there, which lead the Sultans to almost win the game.
- In the end, it was Khushdil and Abbas Afridi who had to win the finale for their team. But they failed to do so.
Bowling
- The last over was in the hands of Zaman Khan who had 13 runs in 6 deliveries. Zaman has defended the runs for them previously as well, and he was looking forward to doing something similar today as well.
- AND HE DID THAT. Defending 13 runs is not an easy task these days. But the slinger did the job. He went for only 11 runs in the final over which led to the defending champions WINNING THE SUPERNOVA.
- Among the bowlers, credit goes to the skipper again. He took wickets when it mattered the most. He took 4-51. Rashid and Wiese were instrumental in restraining the opposition.
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| MULTAN SULTANS 199-8 | |
| BATTING | BOWLING |
| Rilee Rossouw 52(32) | Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-51 |
| Mohammad Rizwan 34(23) | Rashid Khan 2-26 |
| Khushdil Shah 25(12) | David Wiese 1-31 |
| Abbas Afridi 17(6) | |
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Man of the match
Who else but Shaheen Shah Afridi? Shaheen’s individual performance in the batting alone is enough to earn him the title of the man of the match. But he took 4 wickets as well. AN ALL-ROUND PERFORMANCE FROM THE SKIPPER. Surely, he has been working with his father-in-law. Maybe that is what helped him the most.
Not only that, but Shaheen became the first skipper in PSL’s history to do the following things
- Win 2 finals as a skipper
- Defend a PSL title successfully.
WHAT A FINALE
Seriously, what a stunner it was. If you saw this match, there is no way you could tell who was winning till the end. The whole match was filled with twists and turns. But the Qalandasr became the first team EVER to defend their title successfully. They are the champions again and have lifted the Supernova. Credit goes to the team as a whole. Actually, it was both teams that put forward an entertaining finale for the fans.
Congratulations to all the PSL teams for making this tournament a success. And congratulations to you readers as well for sticking with us till the end. Until PSL 9, take care
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