David Wiese! Remember the name? You perhaps don’t, unless you’re a Lahore Qalandars fan, since the South African delivered exactly this outcome in the final over of a game last year, smashing a six off the final ball then to power Lahore to victory against Multan. This time around, it was the penultimate ball, and this time, it was Peshawar Zalmi. He was facing Carlos Brathwaite, the undisputed king of final overs in T20 cricket, and it seemed like the West Indian’s grip on that crown would tighten even more after a fantastic first four balls that leaked just three runs.
Lahore needed 5 off 2, and just as it appeared they would manage to let victory slip through their fingers once more, Wiese cleared his front leg, read the slower delivery and bludgeoned the ball over the head of a long-on fielder who could only watch the ball sail into an exultant Lahore crowd. It sealed a famous five wicket win, with this being just the second time Lahore have won three games on the bounce in the PSL.
The craziness of that last over complemented what was one of the games of the season, with ebbs and flows of momentum that kept the outcome uncertain until Wiese launched that final delivery into the stands. Peshawar suffered a nightmarish start that may have proved the difference, slumping to 24 for 3 in the Powerplay thanks to Shaheen Afridi and Samit Patel’s excellent opening overs, before a 116-run stand from two players at extreme ends of the age spectrum, Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik, got Peshawar back on parity.
But Shaheen returned at the death to restrict Peshawar to 187 on a brilliant pitch for batting, and with Fakhar Zaman firing and Sohail Akhtar playing his part, Lahore suffered no capitulation of the top order. Even when Akhtar was run out in a moment of characteristically sabotaging running, Chris Lynn stepped up, and ensured Lahore would always remain ahead of the rate in a partnership that put their side well on course to a reasonably straightforward win. Fakhar smashed a chanceless 46-ball 63, but Lahore almost gave it away when Zaman and Lynn fell within three balls of each other, and with Dunk and Hafeez falling cheaply and the asking rate soaring past 12, it appeared Lahore had tossed away their golden opportunity. Agencies
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