LAHORE: Lahore Qalan­dars seemed to have lost their way but found their heroes in Kusal Perera and Sikandar Raza and by the end of what was a humdinger of a final, they were the ones who hoisted the trophy high into the night sky at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.

It was a remarkable recovery after Qalandars, chasing an imposing 202, needed 71 runs off the last five overs; the momentum well and truly in favour of Quetta Gladiators. But Perera — who only came into the side after the Pakistan Super League was halted — and Raza — who flew in from England 10 minutes before the toss — found the big hits just when all seemed lost.

Perera hit his second consecutive half-century, an unbeaten 62 off 31, and Raza’s 22 of seven, took them home. Fittingly, it was Raza, who was playing for Zimbabwe in the four-day Test against England that finished only on Saturday, who got the winning runs; a boundary to seal it for his side with a ball to spare.

Raza punched the air in delight as the ball touched the ropes, Perera running towards him to celebrate after pulling off an incredible chase.

“Had dinner [last night] in Birmingham, breakfast in Dubai, drove to Abu Dhabi to catch the flight and now having dinner in Lahore,” Raza said in a broadcast interview after the final, his team-mates celebrating in the background. “I know the team wanted me,” he added, about making the journey to Lahore. “It’s just unbelievable.”

Pacer Salman Mirza and Abdullah Shafique added that Qalandars’ recent run — they had to “win three finals” to get here — had fuelled belief that they could win.

Qalandars needed to beat Peshawar Zalmi to make the playoffs before they beat Karachi Kings in the eliminator and Islamabad United in the qualifier to make the showpiece match where they clinched their third title in four seasons.

“We were confident we could chase it down… we had a positive mindset,” Sal­man told broadcasters. “We knew they would have good overs but we trusted our batters to do the job. For us, this was our fourth final in a row and that was essential in building momentum.”

Abdullah hailed the efforts of Perera and Raza. “The situation was difficult but Perera and Raza were superb,” he said. “We knew the team was on a roll and that gave us the confidence that we could pull it off.”

SCOREBOARD

QUETTA GLADIATORS:

Saud Shakeel c Perera b Shaheen 4

F. Allen c Haris b Salman 12

R. Rossouw c Shaheen b Raza 22

Hasan Nawaz c Raza b Shaheen 76

A. Fernando c Shaheen b Rishad 29

D. Chandimal c sub b Shaheen 22

Faheem Ashraf c Naeem b Salman 28

Mohammad Amir b Haris 0

Abrar Ahmed c Shaheen b Haris 0

Khurram Shahzad not out 2

EXTRAS (W-6) 6

TOTAL (for nine wickets, 20 overs) 201

DID NOT BAT: Usman Tariq

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-17 (Saud), 2-21 (Allen), 3-58 (Rossouw), 4-125 (Fernando), 5-171 (Chandimal), 6-172 (Hasan), 7-173 (Amir), 8-173 (Abrar), 9-201 (Faheem)

BOWLING: Shaheen 4-0-24-3 (2w), Salman 4-0-51-2, Haris 4-0-41-2 (2w), Raza 4-0-43-1, Rishad 4-0-42-1

LAHORE QALANDARS:

Fakhar Zaman lbw b Abrar 11

Mohammad Naeem c Fernando b Faheem 46

Abdullah Shafique c Khurram b Usman 41

K. Perera not out 62

B. Rajapaksa c Fernando b Amir 14

S. Raza not out 22

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-5) 8

TOTAL (for four wickets, 19.5 overs) 204

DID NOT BAT: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Akhlaq, Rishad Hossain, Haris Rauf, Salman Mirza

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-39 (Fakhar), 2-85 (Naeem), 3-115 (Abdullah), 4-145 (Rajapaksa)

BOWLING: Amir 4-0-41-1 (2w), Khurram 4-0-46-0 (1w), Faheem 3.5-0-49-1 (1w), Abrar 4-0-27-1, Usman 4-0-38-1 (1w)

RESULT: Lahore Qalandars won by six wickets.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2025