Lahore Qalandars scored 204 for 4 (Perera 62* not out, Naeem 46, Abrar 1-27) to defeat Quetta Gladiators, who managed 201 for 9 (Nawaz 76, Fernando 29, Afridi 3-24), by six wickets.
Numerous players delivered standout performances that could have clinched this thrilling final, but ultimately, it was Kusal Perera and Sikandar Raza who celebrated wildly under the midnight Lahore sky after Lahore Qalandars narrowly triumphed over Quetta Gladiators in an electrifying PSL final.
In short, Qalandars needed 47 runs from the last three overs to achieve not only the highest successful chase in a PSL final but in any T20 final worldwide. Adding to the drama, the winning runs came from Sikandar Raza—a player who had arrived in Pakistan just ten minutes before the toss.
With eight runs required from three balls, Raza sealed the victory with a six and a four, finishing the game with a ball to spare. However, it was Perera’s unbeaten 62 off just 31 balls that kept the chase alive when the odds were stacked against them.
Among other notable performances were explosive 40s from Mohammad Naeem and Mohammed Shafique, while Hasan Nawaz’s 76 off 43 and Faheem Ashraf’s quickfire 28 off eight might have been match-winning efforts on any other day.
This match ultimately hinged on composure under pressure—and the Qalandars showed remarkable nerve at the most critical moments.
Raza’s remarkable journey
“Bowled 25 overs two days ago, batted for about 20 overs the next day, had dinner in Birmingham, breakfast in Dubai, drove to Abu Dhabi for lunch, then flew and had dinner in Pakistan.”
Only Raza himself could have captured the extraordinary journey leading to the final so vividly—one that concluded with him hitting the winning runs.
Though understandably a bit off form with the ball, Raza was present at key moments—whether it was creating the first breakthrough, catching a crucial skier at long-off to dismiss Nawaz, or smashing two boundaries off Mohammad Amir early in the chase when the required run rate was climbing steeply.
Faheem shifts the momentum
Chasing a target in a final is never simple. In PSL history, the highest successful chase had been 175, achieved in the tournament’s inaugural edition. Nawaz’s 76 off 43 was pivotal in setting up a strong total, anchoring the innings while teammates contributed valuable cameos at a healthy scoring rate.
When Dinesh Chandimal’s two sixes at the end of the 17th over pushed the Gladiators to 170 for 4, with Nawaz still at the crease, it seemed Qalandars faced a formidable target.
However, the next two overs yielded only eight runs, and Gladiators lost four wickets, including Nawaz’s. Suddenly, a total around 190 looked more realistic than the earlier target of 200-plus.
Then came Faheem Ashraf. A risky single—where Khurram Shahzad was nearly out of the crease before a throw missed the stumps—put Faheem on strike. He seized the opportunity emphatically, hitting six, four, six, six in the next four balls to propel the Gladiators past 200 before being caught out on the final ball.
Lahore Qalandars squad: Shaheen Afridi (Captain), Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Naeem, Abdullah Shafique, Kusal Perera (wk), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Asif Ali, Sikandar Raza, Rishad Hossain, Salman Mirza, Haris Rauf
Quetta Gladiators squad: Saud Shakeel (Captain), Finn Allen, Hasan Nawaz, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Avishka Fernando, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Amir, Khurram Shahzad, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Tariq, Abrar Ahmed
