Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza flew in from England, arrived 10 minutes before the toss and went on to lead Lahore Qalandars to its third Pakistan Super League (PSL) title in four years. Lahore's record successful chase on Sunday saw it beat Quetta Gladiators by six wickets with a ball to spare in a thrilling final.
Raza had played in a Test match against England at Nottingham, which Zimbabwe lost by an innings on Saturday. He made a vital unbeaten 22 off seven deliveries on Sunday while Kusal Perera smashed an unbeaten 62 off 31 balls to carry Lahore to 204-4 in 19.5 overs after Quetta had chosen to bat first and scored 201-9.
Quetta mystery spinners Abrar Ahmed (1-27) and Usman Tariq (1-38) had squeezed Lahore and when Raza arrived the home team still needed 57 runs off the final 20 balls. Raza showed no signs of fatigue after multiple flights to reach Lahore and smashed fast bowler Mohammad Amir for a four and a six off the first two balls he faced. With eight runs needed off Faheem Ashraf’s final three balls, Raza smacked the fast bowler over point for a six before hitting the winning boundary wide of mid-on.
"Bowled 25 overs the day before yesterday (Friday), batted for 20-odd overs yesterday (Saturday), I had dinner in Birmingham, breakfast in Dubai, and drove to Abu Dhabi for lunch," Raza said. "Took a flight and had a dinner in Pakistan. This is the life of a professional cricketer. I'm truly humbled and blessed to have the life," said Raza after the match.
Earlier, Pakistan’s rising star T20 batter Hasan Nawaz smashed 76 off 43 and Ashraf (28) hit Salman Mirza for 23 runs off the final over to take Quetta past the 200-run mark.
The fast bowling duo of captain Shaheen Shah Afridi (3-24) and Haris Rauf (2-41) pegged back Quetta in the death overs when they claimed four wickets in the space of two runs but Ashraf's late onslaught gave Quetta hope to claim its first PSL title in six years before Raza stole the show.
Lahore won the PSL titles in 2022 and 2023 and with its third win equaled Islamabad United's record of three PSL titles.
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