LAHORE: The stage is ready for an action-packed grand finale here at the Gaddafi Stadium under lights on Sunday.
Pumped-up Lahore Qalandars will be looking to clinch the HBL Pakistan Super League title for the third time — after winning back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023 — when Shaheen Shah Afridi and his men clash with the Saud Shakeel-led Quetta Gladiators who have claimed the trophy only once, in 2019.
Interestingly, Qalandars and Gladiators — both of whom are playing their fourth PSL final today — are meeting in the six-team league’s decider for the very first time.
A thunderstorm on Saturday followed by rain denied Qalandars a net practice session, which they were to hold at the Gaddafi Stadium in the evening. Gladiators had not announced any training programme for the day. Luckily, the forecast for Sunday is sunny weather.
On glancing at their routes to the final, one finds that Qalandars have had a patchy campaign as they made it to the playoffs with 11 points in their bag after winning five out of 10 league-phase matches and losing four while one ended as no result.
The Shaheen-captained side lost three of their first five league games before winning the next two against Multan Sultans by five wickets and United by 88 runs in Lahore to revive their topsy-turvy campaign. After the abandoned game against Gladiators, Qalandars again dipped losing to Karachi Kings by four wickets in a 15-overs-a-side outing in Lahore before downing Peshawar Zalmi by 26 runs in the last league match in Rawalpindi on Friday to reach the playoffs.
Qalandars exhibited their prowess in the playoffs. They first overwhelmed Kings by six wickets in a high-scoring Eliminator at the Gaddafi Stadium before brushing aside United by 95 runs second qualifier at the same venue to waltz into the all-important final.
A positive sign for Qalandars for today’s showdown is their massive 79-run victory over Gladiators in the league-phase match staged in Rawalpindi. The second league-stage clash between the two teams in Lahore ended in no result due to rain.
On the other hand, Gladiators (15 points) enjoyed a sustained elevation in the league stage which was followed by the playoffs. After losing their second and third matches of the league stage, the rejuvenated Gladiators staged a superb comeback to stay unbeaten in their next six matches and top the table with 15 points.
In the qualifier, they defeated defending champions Islamabad United by 30 runs in Lahore to cruise into the final, and in the process stretched their undefeated run to seven games.
If Qalandars possess a formidable batting line-up comprising Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Naeem, Abdullah Shafique, Kusal Perera, Bhanuka Rajapakasa and Asif Ali, the Gladiators have quite a strong pace battery in Mohammad Amir (12 wickets in eight matches), Faheem Ashraf (16 in 11), Khurram Shahzad (12 in seven) and Mohammad Wasim Jr (10 in eight).
Gladiators also have a good spin attack that is composed of Abrar Ahmad (16 in 11), Usman Tariq and part-timer Saud.
Qalandars enjoy an impressive bowling line-up that features Shaheen (16 wickets in 12 games), Haris Rauf (15 in 12), Salman Mirza (seven in three). Their spin attack containing Shakib Al Hasan, Rishad Hossain (12 wickets in six games) and Asif Afridi (seven in nine) also look potent.
To counter this, Gladiators have some solid batters including Rilee Rossouw, Hasan Nawaz, Saud, Faheem Ashraf, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Mendis and Khawaja Nafay.
Teams (from):
LAHORE QALANDARS: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Naeem, Kusal Perera, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Asif Ali, Rishad Hossain, Haris Rauf, Salman Mirza, Shakib Al Hasan, Asif Afridi, Zaman Khan
QUETTA GLADIATORS: Saud Shakeel (captain), Finn Allen, Rilee Rossouw, Hasan Nawaz, Dinesh Chandimal, Faheem Ashraf, Avishka Fernando, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Khurram Shahzad, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq, Khawaja Nafay.
Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2025
