The cricket fans were treated with some exciting finish to the league stage of the PSL 2022 as the encounter between Peshawar Zalmi and Lahore Qalandars went into the Super Over before the Peshawar side eventually won the match.
The Qalandars while chasing 159 needed 24 off the final over with skipper Shaheen on strike. The Peshawar captain Wahab Riaz handed the ball to Mohammad Umar for this last over.
He bowled a wide first up and Shaheen then followed it with a four and a maximum to the next two deliveries bringing down the equation to 13 required off four.
The left-handed batsman didn't stop here as he struck another six to create more pressure on the bowler. The ask had now dropped to 7 needed off three and Umar showed some mettle to bowl two dot deliveries on the trot.
With 7 runs required off the final ball, Shaheen Afridi swung his bat with full force and hammered another six in the over deep mid-wicket to tie the game and take it into the Super Over.
Wahab Riaz bowled the Super Over for Peshawar and only gave only five runs during the course. Shoaib Malik who came out to bat for Zalmi hit two boundaries on the first two balls of Shaheen's over to wrap up the match for his side.
Earlier, Peshawar Zalmi managed to put 158/7 in 20 overs after Shoaib Malik top-scored with 32 of 28 and Khalid Usman chipped in with an unbeaten 19 off 11.
Lahore Qalandars in reply, too struggled to put up a fight during the chase and lost wickets at regular intervals to get reduced to 94/6. It was Mohammad Hafeez who held the fort at one end and scored 49 in 44 deliveries and Shaheen Afridi's batting masterclass that helped the side get back in the game and put up a fight. He scored 39 off 20. Wahab returned with figures of 2/19 in 4 overs.
"Have been practicing my batting in the nets to ensure that I can contribute to the team with the bat if needed. Will try to improve more if possible. Talking about the match, Peshawar played really well but we weren't good enough on the field," Shaheen said after the match.
Lahore will now play Multan Sultans in Qualifier in Lahore on Wednesday while Peshawar will be up against Islamabad United in Eliminator 1 on Thursday at the same venue.