Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi was delighted after his team clinched their maiden Pakistan Super League title.
Qalandars were able to beat Multan Sultans comprehensively by 42 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Sunday.
Lahore posted a par score of 180 runs after Afridi won the toss and decided to bat first. Qalandars didn’t get off to a great start as they lost three early wickets and they were tottering at 25-3 after 4.2 overs.
However, Mohammad Hafeez, Harry Brook, and David Wiese were able to get their team to a par score. Hafeez, who has all the experience under his belt, scored a fine knock of 69 runs off 46 balls with the help of nine fours and one six. Furthermore, Harry Brook scored 22-ball 41 whereas David Wiese scored a quickfire knock of 28 runs from only eight balls.
On the other hand, Shaheen Shah Afridi was the pick of the bowlers for Lahore Qalandars as he scalped three wickets and played a key role in skittling out Multan Sultans at 138 runs. Furthermore, Mohammad Hafeez and Zaman Khan bagged two wickets each.
Shaheen Shah Afridi said in the post-match presentation, “It’s a great achievement. We have been waiting for 6 years and I want to thank the Lahore crowd. They have come out in numbers and supported us throughout. A lot of people supported me, Hafeez guided me during lot of pressure moments so thanks to all who supported me. The fight we showed as a team throughout the tournament is really fantastic and we had that attitude to fight till the last ball”.
Lahore Qalandars were able to come up with collective performance in the final whereas Multan Sultans were let down by their batting a none of the batters could convert their starts into substantial scores.
Zaman Khan, who returned with impressive figures of 2-26, was also delighted with his and team’s performance.
He said after the game, “The team put up a total and Afridi led us well. The bowlers just backed it up. Shaheen bhai has supported me as an elder brother and looked after me really well. I enjoy bowling with some of the best bowlers (Afridi, Rauf and Rashid) in the world”.
