Shaheen Afridi’s Lahore Qalandars clinched the title to receive a PKR 80 million cheque.
Lahore Qalandars came up trumps to lift their maiden PSL trophy by defeating Multan Sultans in the tournament finale on February 27 at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. Riding on the back of Mohammad Hafeez’s all-around brilliance, the Qalandars pipped the high-flying Sultans, who foundered during an askingly steep chase of 181.
After they opted to bat first, Qalandars were launched to 180/5 by Hafeez’s meticulously constructed 46-ball 69 laced with nine fours and one six, alongside quickfire unbeaten cameos from Harry Brook (22-ball 41) and David Wiese (8-ball 28) before the bowlers doubled up the good show.
The Sultans never quite managed to keep the tempo going for a duration long enough to surmount a nine-run-an-over ask, with Hafeez (2/23) striking twice inside the first seven overs to send back the in-form Mohammad Rizwan and No. 3 Aamer Azmat, while Zaman Khan (2/26) cashed in on those early inroads with wickets of Rilee Rossouw and Asif Afridi.
Reduced to 63/5 at the halfway mark, the pressure mounted on the Sultans with each passing delivery, and the tall ask became taller even though Tim David (27 off 17) and Khushdil Shah (32 off 23) briefly threatened to do the unthinkable with a brisk 51-run alliance in merely 28 balls.
However, Shaheen Afridi’s double-strike in the 17th over proved to be a knockout punch as he dismissed David and David Willey, while Khushdil was undone by Haris Rauf in the succeeding over to quell any hopes of a late twist in the tale as the Qalandars restricted them 42 runs short.
PSL 2022: Who won what?
Qalandars’ Fakhar Zaman finished as the top run-getter of the tournament, with 588 runs in 13 matches at an average and strike rate of 45.23 and 152.72 including a century and seven half-centuries.
Shadab Khan, the second-leading wicket-taker with 19 scalps in just eight innings (average of 10.89 and economy rate 6.46), was named the bowler of the tournament, although Shaheen Afridi topped the wicket-taking chart with 20 in 13 innings.
Multan Sultans skipper Rizwan was adjudged the Player of the Tournament, tallying second to Zaman in the run-scorer list with 546 in 12 innings at 68.25, including seven fifties. He was also named the best wicketkeeper apart from being awarded the Spirit of Cricket Award.
Rizwan’s teammate Khushdil, who finished the tournament with 153 runs and 16 wickets against his name, was declared the best all-rounder as well as the best fielder, while Qalndars’ Zaman Khan, the third-best wicket-taker in the league with 18 scalps in at 21.50 in 13 fixtures, won the Emerging Player award.
