LAHORE, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 26th May, 2025) Powered by a scintillating unbeaten 50 by Kusal Perera and a cameo by all-rounder Sikandar Raza led Lahore Qalandars to chase down improbable 201 and beat Quetta Gladiators by six wickets in a thriller in the final of the PSL X at the Gaddafi Stadium, here on Sunday night.
This is highest total chased by a team in a T20 final across the globe and third title won Lahore Qalandars in the last four seasons. Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad have won three PSL titles each in its 10 year-long illustrious history.
Lahore Qalandars looked down and out of the title contention by the 15th over with the total at 131-3 and needed 71 runs off the last five overs but they did turn table on the Quetta Gladiators through brilliance of Kusal Perera and belligerence of Sikandar Raza – who had flown from England after national duty and reached just on time to play the final. Sikandar Raza played a cameo of 22 runs off mere seven balls while Kusal Perera played an unbeaten knock of 62 off 31 balls to knock Quetta out of PSL trophy contention.
Lahore’s march to victory was ably aided by Mohammad Naeem 46 (27) and Abdullah Shafique’s 41 (28). Mohammad Naeem hit six towering 6s and a lone boundary in his aggressive knock which laid the foundation of a famous victory as he kept the run-rate under check as they hunting down a big target of 202 runs.
Rajapaksa provided stability to the innings but was slow in chase and when he fell to the guile of Mohammad Amir in the 17th over with the team total at 145-4, Lahore required 57 runs off 20 balls but it was the brilliance and calculated approach of Kusal Perera who made it happen. He hit five boundaries and four 6s in one of the best knocks of his career. If Perera was brilliant, Sikandar Raza was maverick in the run-chase as he kept up to his reputation of a man in crisis and hit the winning boundary on the penultimate ball of the match to bring his team-mate into ecstasy.
Mohammad Amir, who had bowled an excellent opening spell, looked to miss the trick towards the end of the innings as he conceded 30 runs off his last two overs.
Comparing the bowling effort with the Lahore Qalandars who had curtailed Quetta to 31 runs in last three overs of the innings and claimed four wickets, Quetta bowlers conceded 57 runs in the last three overs without taking any wicket.
Mohammad Amir, Usman Tariq, Abrar Ahmed and Faheem Ashraf claimed one wicket each while Khurram Shahzad remained wicketless.
Earlier, Quetta captain Saud Shakeel won the toss and elected to bat first. A blistering knock Hasan Nawaz and a cameo by Faheem Ashraf powered Quetta Gladiators to a commanding total of 201-9 in 20 overs against Lahore Qalandars before a capacity crowd at the iconic Gaddafi stadium.
.In a wonderful display of power-hitting by the hitman Hasan Nawaz 76 (43), Quetta innings never lost the way despite early jolts when Shaheen Shah Afridi and Salman Mirza drew the first blood and restricted Quetta to 21-2 in the fourth over. However, Finn Allen and Hasan Nawaz took their team to 58 runs before Allen fell in the seventh over. Rillee Rossouw played a quick knock of 22 off 11 balls before Sikandar Raza, who flew from England 10 minutes before the toss to play the final, got the better of him when he was superbly caught by Afridi in the covers.
Hasan Nawaz, whose innings included eight boundaries and four 6s, anchored the innings but he scored freely. He, in partnership with Avishka Fernando, put on 67 runs partnership off 39 balls. Both the batters were harsh towards the spinners and played freely against Sikandar and Rishad Hussain. Hasan Nawaz played a master-class as he led the assault against the Qalandars bowling line-up.
The fortunes ebbed and flowed during the course of the match. Lahore snatched the advantage in the first part of the innings, Lahore Qalandars drew the first blood as they claimed two wickets in first three overs, and the latter part, when Afridi and Haris bagged four wickets in nine balls, but it was Hasan Nawaz in the early part and Faheem Ashraf towards the close who put Quetta ahead.
Quetta Gladiators were well placed to score a big total by the seventeenth over but the fall of back-to-back wickets of Dinesh Chandimal 22 (12) and Hasan Nawaz 75 (45) in Shaheen’s last over with a brace from Haris Rauf dented the Quetta’s chances to score big before Faheem Ashraf arrested the advantage as he plundered 23 runs off Salman Mirza’s last over of the match. Faheem hit three 6s and a four.
Shaheen Afridi bowled inspired bowling spells as he claimed three wickets for 24 runs. He bagged two important wickets of Chandimal and Hasan Nawaz in his last and seventeenth over of the innings. Haris Rauf and Salman Mirza picked a brace as they conceded 41 and 51 runs respectively of their quota of four overs. Sikandar Raza and Rishad Hussain bagged one wicket each for 43 and 42 runs.
Lahore Qalandars had to add Muhammad Akhlaq as concussion substitute for Asif Ali who had a head-on collision with Muhammad Naeem while fielding at mid-wicket in the 12th over of the Quetta innings and had to leave the field.
President Asif Ali Zardari is the chief guest at the final of the PSL X and will give away trophy and prizes to the winning team Lahore Qalandars in a short while.
