Pakistan Super League Finals have been dramatic and Hollywood-esque in the past and it has delivered post-fitting endings in recent years, barring the 2017 final where Quetta Gladiators played with a depleted side, all finals have delivered a blockbuster climax.
PSL 2016: Islamabad United Vs Quetta Gladiators
It was a year, where the Quetta Gladiators were dominating the proceedings throughout the season whereas Islamabad United made a comeback by playing two eliminators to reach the inaugural final of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
The match was held in Dubai where Islamabad United won the toss and chose to field first, Quetta Gladiators posted a formidable total of 174/7 courtesy of a brilliant knock by Ahmed Shehzad who smashed 64 runs off 39 balls while his legendary Sri Lankan partner Kumar Sangakkara played a scintillating knock of 55 runs with a strike rate of 171.87.
Andre Russel was the pick of the bowlers for United as he finished with figures of 3-36 in his allotted 4 overs.
In the second innings, Islamabad came up with a stunning response as Dwayne Smith and Brad Haddin smashed the Quetta bowlers all across the park. Brad Haddin scored a steady innings of 61 runs while man of the match Dwayne Smith stormed through the run-chase scoring 73 runs off 51 deliveries including 7 fours and 4 sixes.
PSL 2017: Peshawar Zalmi vs Quetta Gladiators
The final of the second edition of the PSL is considered one of the worst finals in the history of the Pakistan Super League where Peshawar Zalmi played against a depleted Quetta Gladiators side who did not have their primary foreign players in the final.
The match was held in Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore and Quetta Gladiators went into the final with their second-string side, which consisted of players like Rayad Emrit and Sean Ervine coming in the finale on the 11th hour.
Peshawar’s skipper Darren Sammy scored a blinder of a cameo of 28 runs from just 11 balls while Kamran Akmal provided a good start from the top for his valuable 40 runs.
Rayad Emrit picked up three wickets to restrict Zalmi to a fighting total of 148-6.
Dawid Malan, Marlon Samuels, Chris Jordan, and Darren Sammy all came to Pakistan to play in the PSL final, with credit to their franchise owner Javed Afridi who convinced them.
Sarfraz Ahmed, Sean Ervine, and Anwar Ali were the only three batters in the Quetta side who managed to cross double figures in that run-chase.
Mohammad Asghar picked up three wickets to help Zalmi triumph in the Pakistan Super League season 2.
PSL 2018: Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi
Islamabad United who had already tasted glory in the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Super League became victorious in this one as well, it was a season where all the play-off matches were played in Pakistan and PSL was shifting from Dubai to home.
Multan Sultans became the sixth team to enter the competition in its third year.
Islamabad cruised through the group stage that season and amassed 14 points with 7 wins while Peshawar Zalmi had to play 2 eliminators to reach the final that year.
Peshawar Zalmi won the toss and elected to bat first but that move did not turn out to be fruitful for the yellow storm as Shadab Khan and Samit Patel ripped apart their top order in quick succession.
Dawid Malan and Chris Jordan’s 52-run partnership helped steady the ship for Zalmi and Wahab Riaz’s cameo of 28 runs elevated the total to 148-9 after a wobbly start.
It was a season for Luke Ronchi, who won man of the match and also player of the tournament due to his scintillating batting as an opener. He scored 52 off 26 balls and he played with a strike rate of almost 200 throughout the season.
Sahibzada Farhan anchored the innings in the run chase against Peshawar Zalmi and scored 44 runs off 33 balls. However, Asif Ali finished the game off spectacularly as he tonked 3 sixes against Hassan Ali smashing 26 runs of 6 deliveries.
PSL 2019: Quetta Gladiators vs Peshawar Zalmi
Only four PSL matches were played in Abu Dhabi and the rest of the PSL was shifted to National Stadium Karachi due to military escalation and surgical strikes between India and Pakistan it could not be hosted in Lahore.
Quetta and Peshawar remained the top 2 teams of the campaign and eventually met in the finals after the playoffs.
The Gladiators won the toss and elected to field first and Mohammad Hasnain wreaked havoc in the final picking up 3 wickets for Imam Ul Haq, Umar Amin, and Kieron Pollard.
Zalmi posted a meager total of 138/8 and Umar Amin was the only batter who could keep his head held up high as he scored 38 runs, the only batter to cross the 30 mark in the innings.
In the second innings, it was all Ahmed Shehzad and Rilee Rossouw guiding Sarfraz’s men to the glory which they desired since the inception of the PSL.
Ahmed Shehzad scored 58 runs on a difficult and turning wicket as Quetta triumphed by 8 wickets in the end.
PSL 2020: Karachi Kings vs Lahore Qalandars (The El Classico)
The tournament entirely took place in Pakistan and it was the first time that the tournament took place in four cities Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Multan.
Lahore Qalandars won the toss and elected to bat first at the National Stadium Karachi and it was the first time in five years that Lahore made it to the finals under the captaincy of Sohail Akhter.
But Lahore were bundled out for 134-7 after a good start from Fakhar Zaman and Tamim Iqbal who provided a partnership of 68 runs.
Umaid Asif and Waqas Maqsood were the pick of the bowlers as they picked up 4 wickets and conceded just 36 runs in 8 overs.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 struck that year and the match had to be played in an empty stadium but the final produced one of the best innings by Babar Azam, and Karachi Kings managed to triumph due to his immaculate 63 runs in the run-chase. Babar truly became a king that season.
PSL 2021: Multan Sultans vs Peshawar Zalmi
PSL suffered a huge setback in its 6th edition as the tournament was shifted midway to Dubai and was postponed till June 2021.
The finale between Peshawar Zalmi and Multan Sultans was held at Sheikh Zayed Stadium on June 24 and after a three-month hiatus, we finally got to see the conclusion of PSL season 6.
Multan Sultans posted a mammoth total of 206-4, it was a season that belonged to Sohaib Maqsood who thrashed the bowlers in the final as well with a 35-ball half-century, Rilee Rossouw arrived on the pitch like a storm and blasted a fifty off just 21 balls to take Multan to a total that was un-reachable.
In the second innings, Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik tried to put up a fight with the latter scoring 48 runs off 28 balls but in the end, Imran Tahir halted all proceedings with 3-33 in his match-winning spell. Sultans won by 47 runs.
Sohaib Maqsood was named man of the tournament eventually.
PSL 2022: Multan Sultans vs Lahore Qalandars
Shaheen Shah Afridi was appointed as Lahore Qalandars for the first time and this was the move by the Qalandars team management that would eventually kickstart the golden era in the history of the franchise.
Multan stream rolled every team that came their way in that season winning 9 matches out of 10 in the group stage and topped the group while Lahore finished 2nd in the table with 6 victories.
PSL had finally returned to Pakistan again after Covid and everything reverted to normalcy in the seventh edition of Pakistan Super League.
Lahore won the toss and elected to bat first and posted a total which was just above the par score 180-5 at the Gaddafi Stadium.
The day will always be remembered for Muhammad Hafeez’s glorious batting who scored 69 off 46 balls and picked up 2 wickets as well. Harry Brook supported him by smashing a sumptuous 41 runs innings off just 22 deliveries.
Abbas Afridi was the only bowler who picked up 3 wickets for Multan Sultans with all the other bowlers going for plenty of runs.
Khushdil Shah scored a quickfire 32 but it was not enough as Lahore won their first PSL title by 42 runs and seven years of pain finally came to an end.
PSL 2023: Multan Sultans vs Lahore Qalandars (The Greatest Finale Of All Time)
Pakistan Super League Season 8 remains the greatest and most thrilling final of all time as it went till the last ball and Lahore achieved victory by 1 run and made history while becoming the first team ever to defend their PSL title.
Lahore won the toss and elected to bat first and posted a formidable total of 200/6 on a true wicket which was a paradise for batters.
After a good start by Mirza Baig and Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique played a brilliant knock that was required to get to 200 in the final scoring 65 runs off 40 deliveries but then lower down the order skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi became a hailstorm, and powered 44 runs off just 15 delivers emulating his father-in-law Shahid Afridi.
Captain Muhammad Rizwan and Rilee Rossouw gave a great start to the innings as they accumulated a partnership of 64 with Rossouw thrashing 52 off 32.
Khushdil Shah and Abbas Afridi tried to win the game for Multan as their partnership of 33 runs in the end helped the team to in a situation where they needed 4 runs on the last ball.
But Shaheen dramatically played a pivotal part in removing the bails to get Khushdil to run as he went for the third run to tie the game and Lahore won by 1 run. The skipper also picked up 4 wickets for Lahore in the second innings and was awarded the player of the match award.
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