By Syed Mahmood Sherazi
Lahore Qalandars defeated Multan Sultans by one run in the final of Pakistan Super League 8 after a nerve-wracking match and thrilling drama. Four runs were needed off the last ball but Shaheen Afridi, the hero of the match, dashed Multan’s dream by running out Khush Dil Shah .
Lahore Qalandars scored 200 runs for 6 wickets while batting first. Multan team score 199 runs for 8 wickets. Because of Shaheen Shah Afridi’s aggressive batting and devastating bowling, Lahore Qalandars successfully defended the title and won the trophy for the second year in a row. Last year too, Multan was defeated in the final. Thus, Lahore Qalandars became the first team of PSL which has won the trophy twice consecutively. Shaheen Shah Afridi, the captain of Lahore Qalandars, was awarded the man of the match award.
Abbas Afridi of Multan Sultans got the best bowler of the tournament award while the best emerging player of the tournament award also went to Abbas Afridi.
Multan Sultans captain Muhammad Rizwan scored the 550 runs and was declared the best batsman of the tournament.
Lahore Qalandar’s batsman Fakhar Zaman was declared the batsman who hit the most sixes in the tournament while Karachi Kings captain Imad Wasim was declared the best all-rounder of the tournament. Imad Wasim scored 404 runs in ten matches of the tournament along with 9 wickets.
Multan Sultans player Kieron Pollard was adjudged the best fielder of the tournament who took 11 catches in 11 matches. While the honor of the best wicket keeper of the tournament was also won by the captain of Multan Sultan Muhammad Rizwan who took 14 catches behind the wickets.
Ihsanullah, the bowler of Multan Sultans, was declared the best bowler of PSL 8, he took 22 wickets in the tournament and won the player of the tournament award.
There are many interesting and memorable records set in PSL 8 as well. Talking about the players who took the most runs and wickets in the tournament, Mohammad Rizwan, the captain of the Pakistan Super League team Multan Sultans, once again became the highest scoring batsman in the PSL 8, surpassing Babar Azam.
Babar Azam scored a total of 522 runs in PSL 8, but in the final of PSL, Mohammad Rizwan once again surpassed Babar Azam to become the top scorer with 550 runs. Rizwan scored 550 runs in twelve innings of twelve matches, including a century. Babar Azam scored 522 runs in eleven innings of eleven matches. Among foreign players, Riley Russo scored 453 runs in eleven innings of eleven matches. Mohammad Rizwan is the only batsman in PSL history to score 500 or more runs in three seasons. Rizwan scored 500 runs in PSL 6 and 546 runs in PSL 7.Lahore Qalandars opener Fakhar Zaman has crossed the milestone of hitting 100 sixes. He is the first player to hit a century of sixes in PSL. Fakhar Zaman completed 100 sixes in the league by hitting his first six in the final of PSL 8. Kamran Akmal has hit 89, Asif Ali 88 and Shane Watson 81 sixes in PSL. A total of 498 sixes and 1094 fours were hit in the tournament. In bowling, Abbas Afridi of Multan Sultans took 23 wickets in the tournament. Among the foreign players, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, playing for Lahore Qalandars, took 20 wickets in the tournament.Talking about the overall records, a total of 515 runs were scored in the 28th match of PSL, which is the highest total in any T20 match. In response to Multan Sultans’ 262 runs, Quetta Gladiators scored 253 runs. Earlier, the highest total in a single T20I was 501 runs. Titans scored 271 runs and Knights scored 230 runs in South Africa’s T20 challenge.
Despite the defeat, Quetta Gladiators set a new record. Quetta scored 253 runs in the second batting and claimed the record for the highest score in the second batting. Earlier, Central District of New Zealand scored 248 runs in the second batting against Otago. It should be noted that this is the first time in the history of T20. When both teams scored more than 250 runs.
Quetta Gladiators bowler Qais Ahmed made the worst record in the history of Pakistan Super League (PSL). In the 28th match of the PSL against Multan Sultans.
Qais Ahmed gave 77 runs in four over while also managing to take one wicket.
This is the worst bowling record of any player in PSL.
Before Qais Ahmed, the worst bowling record was held by star all-rounder Shahid Khan Afridi. Shahid Afridi gave 67 runs in 4 over while playing for Quetta Gladiators in the 2022 event.
Usman Khan of Multan Sultans scored the fastest century of PSL history during the same match.
Usman Khan scored a century on 36 balls while making Quetta Gladiators’ bowlers a mess. It should be noted that the record of making the fastest century was held by Rilee Rossouw of Multan Sultans, he played a key role in the historic victory of the team by scoring a century in 41 balls against Peshawar Zalmi a day before this match. Usman Khan scored 120 runs off 43 balls in this innings which was also the highest innings by any Pakistani in PSL. Usman Khan hit 12 fours and 9 sixes for his innings.
Lahore Qalandars set a new record for the biggest victory in the Pakistan Super League (PSL Lahore Qalandars set a record defeating Islamabad United by 119 runs. Earlier, the record for the biggest victory in terms of runs was held by Multan Sultans, who defeated Quetta Gladiators by 117 runs. Also, Lahore Qalandars team became the first team to win matches by 100 or more runs twice in one season.
