LAHORE   -   Lahore Qalandars thumped defending champions Multan Sultans by 42 runs in the PSL 7 final to lift the maiden Pakistan Super League trophy here at the House-Full Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday night. President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa graced the final of the PSL 7 while other notables present on the occasion were Governor Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja, former and national cricketers, Punjab government high-ups, dignitaries and electrifying crowd.

After the colorful ceremony, where PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja thanked all the stakeholders of the PSL 7 for making the event a huge success, Lahore Qalandars won the toss and opted to bat first. Their batters batted brilliantly and posted a good total of 180 runs for the loss of 5 wickets on the board in the stipulated 20 overs, thanks to Muhammad Hafeez’s half century. In reply, Multan Sultans’ entire team piled up 138 runs.

Chasing the decent target of 182 runs, Multan Sultans’ batters failed to resist the excellent bowling attack of Lahore Qalandars. The in-form opening duo of captain Muhammad Rizwan and Shan Masood couldn’t make the final remarkable with their knocks and returned to the pavilion with a total score of 41. Rilee Russouw and Asif Afridi fell victim to Zaman Khan by scoring 15 and 1 respectively. Amir Azmat could score just 6 runs.

Almost half of Multan Sultans team had returned to the pavilion with a total score of only 63. In such a situation, Tim David tried to resist by forming a partnership of 50 runs with Khushdil Shah, but he was caught by Fakhar Zaman on the ball of Shaheen Afridi with at his personal score of 17-ball 2 fours and 1 six. Shaheen also bowled David Willey for duck.

Haris Rauf then bowled Khushdil Shah in the next over, when he was playing for 32, he gathered in 23 balls with the help of 4 fours and 1 six. Shaheen Shah Afridi was pick of Lahore Qalandars bowlers as he clinched 3 wickets for 30 runs while Muhammad Hafeez and Zaman Khan bagged 2 wickets each and Haris Rauf and David Wiese got one wicket apiece.

Earlier, when Shaheen Shah Afridi decided to bat first after winning the toss, the top order of Lahore Qalandars completely failed to deliver and lost their wickets quickly. The first three batsmen of Qalandars were dismissed for just 25 runs. Abdullah Shafiq (14), Fakhar Zaman (3) and Zeeshan Ashraf (7) couldn’t contribute well.

In such a situation, experienced batsman Muhammad Hafeez batted with great responsibility and hammered an impressive brilliant half-century. He played 46 balls to smash 69 runs hitting nine fours and 1 towering six. Hafeez teamed up with Kamran Ghulam and Harry Brook for 54 and 58 runs partnerships respectively. Kamran Ghulam was dismissed for 15 runs.

The duo of Harry Brook and David Wiese gathered 40 runs in the last two overs of the innings and played a key role in bringing the team’s total to 180. Harry Brook cracked an unbeaten 41 off 22 balls while David Wiese remained unbeaten on 28 off 8 balls. Both the players hit 3 sixes each. Asif Afridi of Multan Sultans took three wickets each while Shahnawaz Dahani and David Willey took one wicket each.

Meanwhile, Multan Sultans captain Muhammad Rizwan’s stunning and consistent performance earned him another rich reward when he was adjudged the Player of HBL PSL 7. Rizwan remained a reliable top-order batter for Multan Sultans when he finished the tournament with 546 runs at a strike-rate of 126.68 and inspired his side to the final after winning nine out of 10 league matches.

Rizwan also collected the Wicketkeeper of the HBL PSL 2022 award. In 12 matches, he accounted for nine batters behind the stumps. Earlier in the year, Rizwan was declared the Most Valuable Cricketer as well as T20I Cricketer as part of the PCB Awards 2021.

Lahore Qalandars Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan of Islamabad United were adjudged the best batter and bowler, respectively. Fakhar scored 588 runs (1x100, 7x50) at a strike-rate of 153, while Shadab Khan ended the tournament with 19 wickets in nine matches with an economy-rate of 6.47. The wrist-spinner had two four-fers and a five-fer.

Khushdil Shah of the Sultans was declared as the all-rounder of HBL PSL 2022 for his 153 runs at a strike-rate of 182 and 16 wickets with an economy-rate of 6.9. He also added the fielder of HBL PSL 2022 award to his collection.

Qalandars’ Zaman Khan was named as the emerging cricketer of HBL PSL 2022 after he grabbed 18 wickets. Rashid Riaz was selected by the match officials as the Umpire of HBL PSL 2022, while Sultans were declared winners of the Spirit of Cricket award.

SCORES IN BRIEF

LAHORE QALANDARS 180 for 5 (Hafeez 69, Brook 41*, Afridi 3-19) beat MULTAN SULTANS 138 (Khushdil 32, Shaheen 3-30, Hafeez 2-23) by 42 runs.