A superb all-round performance by David Wiese steered Lahore Qalandars to a 25-run win over Multan Sultans in Eliminator 2 here late on Sunday night, and into the final of the T20 Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Lahore Qalandars will clash with Karachi Kings in the final on Tuesday. The final will throw up a brand new title winner, as neither team has won the title in the short history of the tournament. Karachi Kings had earlier qualified for the final after beating Multan in a Super Over tie-breaker on Saturday.
On Sunday evening, after Multan won the toss and asked Lahore to bat, Wiese top-scored with a rapid-fire 21-ball 48 not out (5x4s, 3x6s) to propel his team to a competitive 182 for six wickets in 20 overs at the National Stadium. For Multan, veteran Shahid Afridi bagged two wickets.
And when Multan batted, South African Wiese captured three wickets for just 27 runs in four overs with his medium-pace bowling to help bowl out Multan for 157 in 19.1 overs. Opener Adam Lyth was the top scorer with 50. Fast bowler Haris Rauf captured three wickets while Dilbar Hussain and Shaheen Afridi, both speedsters, took two wickets each.
Wiese won the Man of the Match award for his all-round performance. He also took a good catch, of Rilee Rossouw off Rauf, under the floodlights. The PSL had started on February 20 and 30 matches were played until March 15, when the tournament was stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The playoffs began on Saturday.
Brief scores:
Lahore Qalandars: 182 for six wickets in 20 overs (David Wiese 48 not out, Fakhar Zaman 46, Tamim Iqbal 30, Samit Patel 26, Shaid Afridi 2/18) beat Multan Sultans: 157 all out in 19.1 overs (Adam Lyth 50, Khushdil Shah 30, Shan Masood 27, David Wiese 3/27, Haris Rauf 3/30, Dilbar Hussain 2/29, Shaheen Afridi 2/36) by 25 runs
