Daily Times

LAHORE: Peshawar Zalmi defeated Quetta Gladiators by 58 runs in the final to win the second edition of the Pakistan Super League at the picturesque Gaddafi Stadium here on Sunday evening. What was to be an intensely competitive final battle turned into a one-sided game. Chasing target of 149, Quetta made a dismal start as their batting order collapsed under pressure of the target set by Peshawar. Fourteen overs in, Quetta had scored a sluggish 81 runs and their eight men were down. Mohammad Asghar claimed three scalps while Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali claimed two wickets apiece. Peshawar skipper Darren Sammy was awarded the ‘Man of the Final’ trophy. Kamran Akmal was awarded ‘Man of the Tournament’, along with prizes for ‘best wicket-keeping’ and ‘batting’. Sohail Khan was awarded the prize for ‘best bowler of the tournament’ as he was the highest wicket-taker this PSL season. The ICC Spirit of Cricket Award was presented to Islamabad United skipper Misbahul Haq at the closing ceremony.

Quetta made a slow start to their innings, making only one run in the first over and losing Morne Van Wyk to a run-out on the third ball of the second. Their second wicket fell on the first ball of the fourth over, when Anamul Haque was caught by Jordan at long-off off Asghar’s delivery. Captain Sarfraz Ahmad walked in and scored a couple of quick boundaries to put some life back in the Quetta’s innings, but they lost Ahmad Shahzad in the next over for only one run, caught off Hasan by Khushdil Shah. One over later, Sarfraz was stumped by the Peshawar’s wicketkeeper as he charged down the pitch and attempted to hack the ball away. Saad Nasim was caught out off a delivery by Wahab in the seventh over. SM Ervine was bowled and Mohammad Nawaz stumped off two consecutive deliveries by Asghar. Quetta batsmen Sarfraz, Ervine and Anwar Ali each scored over 20 runs apiece, contributing a large chunk of the runs to the team’s finishing score of 90 runs.

Quetta had defeated Peshawar by one-run (on February 28 at Sharjah) while Peshawar had downed Karachi Kings by 24 runs (on March 3 at Dubai) in the play-offs to qualify for the much anticipated Lahore final. Many never had the experience of covering a game of cricket from inside a strongly guarded fortress – the Gaddafi Stadium – which was turned into for staging the PSL final as a showpiece event to emphasise to the world that Pakistan was now ready to host international teams once again. Desperate fans filled the ground to have an evening of fun after having gone through the pain and torture of securing an entry ticket in return of huge sums of money for the sake of watching a final of a tournament which itself was not held in Pakistan because of security reasons. Quetta and Peshawar had a host of foreign players available for the final despite security fears having already scared off a host of international stars. Quetta had already seen English trio Kevin Pietersen, Luke Wright and Tymal Mills as well as South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw and Nathan McCullum of New Zealand refuse to play in Pakistan.

Earlier, Kamran and captain Sammy played fine knocks of 40 and 29 respectively as Peshawar were able to post respectable total of 148 for the loss of six wickets in their allotted overs. Although Peshawar kicked off their innings with three solid boundaries smacked by opener Kamran, the middle order collapsed under pressure halfway through the game, with Kamran, Dawid Malan, Marlon Samuels and Khushdil Shah’s wickets falling thick and fast. Sammy picked up the pace by the end of the game, delivering defendable total. Quetta’s bowler Rayad Emrit was a force to be reckoned with, taking three wickets – Mohammad Hafeez, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Malan – with an economy of 31 runs off four overs. Mohammad Nawaz conceded just 15 runs off his four overs, taking one wicket.

The Pakistan Army and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had assured VIP-level security arrangements – normally reserved for state heads – for the teams. It was the highest-level game in Pakistan since a 2009 assault on the Sri Lanka team bus outside Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium killed six people and wounded several players. Pakistan is one of the major cricket playing countries of the world and it indeed is no less than a tragedy that for more than seven years now, we have been unable to stage international cricket for reasons beyond our control. Inadequate efforts to bring sanity in the day to day working of the country have seen the governance systems faltering badly, primarily due to corruption and mismanagement at all levels, cricket inclusive.

There had been much debate and criticism about hosting the PSL final in Pakistan and some of that made sense but one cannot deny the fact that the tournament had brought immense happiness to the mundane lives of many. The criticism was not because the critics were against international cricket to return to Pakistan but because the danger and the threat that was involved in taking such a risk. Pakistan has been starved of international cricket, apart from a short visit by the Zimbabwe in 2015. International cricket’s biggest test is security, which is a challenge in Pakistan right now but a game like this gave an opportunity for the military and government to join hands and prove that they can provide security. Attacks have taken place all over the world including strong regions like Europe and America but no other place has been deprived of sports. The PSL cannot be compared to the Big Bash of Australia or Indian Premier League and it doesn’t come even financially close to them but one can’t ignore its passion. And seeing how that has largely been amiss in the country, it is this passion of the PSL that is the need of the hour for Pakistan. And the PSL II final gave a fitting reminder of what it feels like to be united as a nation.