Mirza,Afridi,Rishad power Lahore to final of PSL X

LAHORE, MAY 24 (APP/DNA):Lahore Qalandars sauntered past Islamabad United in the Eliminator II on here Friday night and reserved a berth for the final of the PSL X against Quetta Gladiators at the Gaddafi stadium on Sunday night.

It will be Lahore’s third final in the last four seasons.

Lahore’s Young pacer Salman Mirza,captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and Leg-spinner Rishad Hussain bowled with pace, precision and guile as they shared three wickets each among themselves.

The Islamabad United batting line-up crumbled to 107-10 in 15.1 overs in pursuit of a big target of 203 as Lahore won by 95 overs.

Shaheen Shah Afridi and Salman Mirza had sowed the seeds of a win as they took care of top-order of Islamabad United and reduced them to 4-33 in 5.5 overs with Salman Mirza claiming prized scalps of Sahibzada Farhan, Rassie van der DUSSEN and Imad Wasim while Shaheen Shah Afridi bamboozled with searing pace as he got the better of Muhammad Shahzad – who had replaced Alex Hales who left for Spain to attend a friend’s marriage.

Once the fast bowlers had broken the back of the batting line-up,it was the Leg-spinner Rishad Hussain toyed with the Islamabad batters who in an effort to match the soaring run-rate gave away their wickets.

Salman Agha 33 (26),Shadab Khan 26 (14) and Jimmy Neesham 8 (5) fell to Rishad.

The three batters gave away their wickets after hitting a six.

Salman Agha and Shadab Khan gave some hope to the Islamabad fans but with the fall of Salman Agha in the 10th over,all hopes were dashed.

No Islamabad United batter other than Salman Ali Agha 33 (26) and Shadab Khan 26 (14) could enter the double-figure.

Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled one of the most miserly spells of PSL X with three wickets for 3 runs in 3.1 overs. Salman Mirza claimed three wickets for 16 runs in three overs while Rishad Hussain bagged three wickets for 34 runs in as many overs.

Haris Rauf conceded 27 runs while Shakib Al Hasan gave away 25 runs of three overs each without any success.

Earlier, Shaheen Shah Afridi won the toss and elected to bat first. Mohammad Naeem 50 (25) and Kusal Perera 61 (35) laid the foundation of a big total as Lahore Qalandars score 202-8 in 20 overs. Mohammad Naeem was belligerent with the bat as usual and had laid the foundation of what was to come but it was Sri Lankan Kusal Perera who brought to fruition the efforts of the top-order batters to post a big total.

Abdullah Shafique 25 (24) was the calming effect on the innings and Lahore looked to struggle when Abdullah Shafique fell in the 12th over with the team total at 103-3. But little cameos from Bhanuka Rajapaksa 22 (13) and Asif Ali 15 (7) and a resolute Kusal Perera 65 (35) took Lahore beyond 200.

Islamabad United looked in control of the innings with the fall of Rajapaksa in the 17th over with Lahore Qalandars total at 151-4 but they lost control of things due to some erratic bowling by Naseem Shah who conceded 52 runs in his quota of four overs. It was second match in a row that Naseem Shah had conceded 50 runs or above as he gave away 50 runs in the Qualifier against Quetta Gladiators. Tymil Mills was the most successful bowler as he claimed three wickets for 42 runs while Slaman Irshad picked two wickets for 40 runs.

Perera and Asif Ali plundered 51 runs of the last 22 balls. Asif Ali hit two lofty 6s during his short stay of seven balls at the crease while Perera had hit seven fours and two 6s in his knock and the same number of boundaries were hit by Mohammad Naeem at the top.

Salman Mirza was adjudged player of the match for his match-defining bowling spell of 3-16 against the United.

Lahore Qalandars will face off Quetta Gladiators in the final of the HBL PSL X at the Gaddafi stadium on Sunday night. It will be the fourth final for both the team. Qalandars won back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023 while Gladiators clinched the only PSL trophy in 2019.