Cricket

PSL final 2023 Man of the Match: Lahore vs Multan Man of the Match today PSL match

Gurpreet Singh
|PublishedMar 18, 2023

PSL final 2023 Man of the Match: Lahore vs Multan Man of the Match today PSL match

Lahore Qalandars lifted their second successive PSL title. (photo: Lahore Qalandars Twitter)

The Lahore Qalandars have won the PSL 2023 grand finale encounter by defeating the Multan Sultans by one run, in what turned out to be an absolute humdinger of a match, at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore tonight.

The Sultans were supposed to accomplish the target of 201 runs, which would have been the highest-ever successful run-chase in PSL grand finale history, and the duo of Usman Khan (18 off 12) and skipper Mohammad Rizwan (34 off 23) were well on course towards the same having smashed 41 runs for the first wicket off mere 3.3 Overs.

Rilee Rossouw (52 off 32) then made sure that the start did not go waste, and stitched a 64-run partnership for the second wicket alongside his skipper, to take the total past 100 by the 10-Over mark.

ALSO READ: Who was declared Man of the Tournament of PSL 2023?

However, the leg-spinning maestro Rashid Khan (4-0-26-2) dismissed both the batters off successive Overs to bring the Qalandars right back into the contest.

Requiring 60 runs off the final five Overs, it looked all curtains for Multan when they lost their final two hopes in Kieron Pollard (19 off 16) and Tim David (20 off 16).However, a 22-run penultimate Over bowled by Haris Rauf (4-0-49-0) brought the match right in the balance. It was Zaman Khan (4-0-33-0), who held on to his nerve on the final delivery, as the Multan batters at the crease could only run a couple with three runs required.

PSL final 2023 Man of the Match

The hero of the night was well and truly the winning skipper Shaheen Afridi, whose 15-ball 44 set the stage for a huge total on the scoreboard for the Qalandars. With the ball in hand, he did leak runs during the first three Overs, but ultimately got rid of the mighty Kieron Pollard and Tim David to end with figures of 4-0-51-4. He was thus fittingly adjudged the PSL 2023 ‘Player of the Final’ for his all round show.

“To reach the final second time and win again is a great feeling. Credit to the entire team and coaching staff for keeping us comfortable. I think it was tough early on when the momentum was swinging between them and us. But the idea was to fight till the very end and it paid off. At that time, I felt like I should go to bat and was lucky to get a few in the slot. This win is for all those Pakistani people who seek joy in PSL. They deserved a game like this,” remarked Afridi post receiving the award.

Twitter reactions on Lahore Qalandars winning back-to-back PSL titles

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About the author

Gurpreet Singh

Gurpreet Singh is a Cricket writer at The Sportsrush. His platonic relationship with sports had always been there since childhood, but Cricket managed to strike a special, intimate nerve of his heart. Although his initial dream of playing the sport at the highest level couldn't come to fruition, Gurpreet did represent the state of Jharkhand at the under-14 level. However, almost like taking a pledge to never let the undying passion for Cricket fade away even a tad, he made sure to continue the love relationship by assigning the field of journalism as an indirect Cupid. He thus, first finished his bachelor's in journalism and then pursued the PG Diploma course in English journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). Soon after and since 2019, he has been working at The Sportsrush. Apart from sports, he takes keen interest in politics, and in understanding women and gender-related issues.