Mohammad Hafeez produced his very best when it mattered the most for Lahore Qalandars, who defeated defending champions Multan Sultans on February 27 to clinch their maiden Pakistan Super League title. The Pakistan allrounder shined with the bat and ball and helped his team win the keenly followed finale in Lahore by 42 runs.
Hafeez struck a critical knock of 69 off 46 balls after walking in with Qalandars reeling at 25/3. The counterattacking effort from the old warhorse reminded people of his quality and prowess, besides allowing Qalandars to get back in the contest from a precarious position.
The timely innings featured nine fours and one six as Hafeez spurred Qalandars on to recovery with a daunting score of 180/5. In the second half, he rewinded the clock with the ball, maintaining a leash on run-scoring and wicket-taking threat in equal measure for his four-over spell of two for 23. Hafeez’s bowling effort included the prized scalp of Sultans’ in-form skipper Mohammad Rizwan (14), whom he sent back bowled when he was just settling in.
Hafeez’s allround excellence on the night earned him a ‘Player of the Match’ award. The 41-year-old led Qalandars’ sucker punch when the chips were down and shut his naysayers up, who have tended to doubt his contribution and fitness standards for a while now.
In the first half, Hafeez’s brilliant knock also acted as an inspiration to middle-order batters Harry Brook and David Wiese, who added vital 53 runs for the sixth-wicket stand. While Brook produced a 22-ball unbeaten 41, Wiese blasted another crucial cameo of 28* off eight deliveries. Their flurry of boundaries took Qalandars to the 180-mark, which they wouldn’t have imagined at one stage of their innings.
Asif Afridi was the pick of the bowlers for Sultans with his three-fer (3/19). But a lack of collective bowling effort and struggle of the rest of the cast meant Sultans saw the game slip away from their grasp once Hafeez and later the Brook-Wiese stand got going.
Things were different for Qalandars, whose skipper Shaheen Afridi led the way with a spell of 3 for 30 off his 4 overs. The left-arm pacer found his mojo on the night and never allowed Sultans to get going at his end. Among others, apart from Hafeez’s miserly spell, Zaman Khan, too, produced the goods for Qalandars, taking two for 26 off his four overs.
Pressure constantly maintained by the likes of Shaheen, Hafeez and Zaman triggered a collapse in the Sultans’ batting line-up, as they finished with just 138 runs in 19.3 overs. Sultans dominated throughout the league stage and crushed Qalandars in the first Qualifier as well. But their opponents got back at them in the final and held back them commendably.
Sultans kept losing regular wickets through the run-chase, which meant the asking rate also kept piling on. Khushdil Shah (32) and Tim David (27) tried to take the game back to the opposition in the middle but once they also departed, it was a near formality before Qalandars would secure their win and kickstart the celebrations.
Sultans needed their two in-form openers Shan Masood (19) and Rizwan to come to the party. But Masood’s untimely run-out and Rizwan’s dismissal thereafter meant they had next to no impetus to their innings from the beginning. After the game, Rizwan had something to smile about on the personal front at least as he was given the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award for his 546 runs in 12 innings.
Brief scores
Lahore Qalandars 180/5 in 20 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 69, Harry Brook 41*; Asif Afridi 3/19) beat Multan Sultans 138/10 in 19.3 overs (Khushdil Shah 32; Shaheen Afridi 3/30, Mohammad Hafeez 2/23) by 42 runs
