Picture Credit: Twitter
Shaheen Afridi led from the front and guided his side Lahore Qalandars to the final of PSL 2022 on Saturday after they defeated Islamabad United by 6-runs. The 2nd Eliminator went to the last over of the match where United needed 8-runs with 2 wickets in hand to seal their birth in the finals. But Qalandars had the last laugh as David Wiese finished the game superbly for his team.
While chasing 168, Islamabad United never had the command of the game and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Earlier, Qalanders started off the second innings in style by destroying the top-order of Islamabad United in a must-win game. Skipper Shaheen Afridi and fielder Haris Rauf combined to dismiss Paul Stirling (13 off 10) and Will Jacks (0 of 2) in the span of three balls. In the third ball of 3rd over, Afridi bowled a full-length delivery which Stirling flicked after walking across, but Haris displayed an exceptional piece of fielding and took the stunning catch. After the first wicket, United's scorecard read 16-1 in 2.3 overs.
That was not it from Afreedi and Rauf, as the pair gave yet another blow to Shadab Khan's side by dismissing Will Jacks. After two balls, Shaheen Afridi bowled back of a length delivery, and Jacks attempted to pull, but the top-edge went to Rauf at backward square leg, who took an easy running catch. Notably, Jacks returned to the pavilion without even opening his account.
Watch the dismissals here:
The duo put Qalandars in a commanding position in a high-intensity contest. The Qalandar kept taking wickets at regular intervals, denying any opportunity to Islamabad United to return in the game. The third dismissal came in the 5th over of the match in Zaman Khan's over, who dismissed skipper Shadab Khan (14 off 8).
All-rounder Liam Dawson was the next batter to depart as he got run out in the 6th over of the match. Dawson could only add 12-runs in 6 balls, while Azam Khan (17 off 17), in-form Alex Hales (38 off 29), and Hasan Ali ( 6 of 6) were the follow-up wickets. At last, Mohammad Wasim Jr (5 off 7) and Waqas Maqsood (0 off 1) were the last two wickets which David Wiese clinched on two successive balls of the last over to ensure victory for his side.
Earlier, Abdullah Shafique (52 off 28), Kamran Ghulam (30 off 26), Samit Patel (21 off 18), and David Wiese (28 off 8) made valuable contributions with bat to power Qalandars to a competitive total of 168 in 20-overs.