The Lahore Qalandars team has performed admirably thus far in the eighth Pakistan Super League (PSL) season, and Sikandar Raza is pleased with their performance.
With to Mirza Tahir Baig’s 42 balls in 54 overs and valuable middle-order contributions from Sam Billings (28 off 21) and Sikandar Raza (23 off 14), Qalandars successfully chased a target for the first time in this tournament and qualified for the final. The reigning champions defeated Peshawar Zalmi in Elimination 2 at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday night, surpassing the mark of 172 with four wickets and seven balls to spare. They will face Multan Sultans in the HBL Pakistan Super League 8 final on Saturday.
The team desired a great start so that even if they weren’t able to play as well in the middle of the innings, it wouldn’t have a huge impact on the result, according to Raza, who claimed that the squad’s goal was to advance to the final.
“This is my first PSL, and it is a massive achievement. We are the defending champions, and it gives us a chance to win it again. The message from the start was to reach the final. Our focus was on the start, and if we get that, then the middle overs will take care of itself. Billings and Tahir had a good partnership and set up the platform for the chase,” said Raza in the post-match chat.
He continued by saying that Shaheen encourages everyone to participate and that they remained calm despite Zalmi scoring 100 runs in just 11 overs.
“We all looked after ourselves after the Qualifier, and everybody was fit. Shaheen allows us to speak, and he tells the senior guys like myself, Billings and Wiese to speak; even when the opposition was 100 in 11 overs, we were not worried,” he added.
