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Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
SIKANDAR Raza has become the second Zimbabwean to win the Pakistan Super League after his team, Lahore Qalandars beat the Multan Sultans, a team coached by one of Zimbabwe’s legends Andy Flower by one run in the final played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Saturday.

By winning the PSL with the Qalandars, Raza joins fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani who also won the league with the Sultans in 2021.

In a last ball thriller, Raza’s Qalandars scored 200/6 in 20 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat first. They went on to restrict their opponents to 199/8 in their 20 overs to win their second consecutive title.

The Zimbabwean stalwart however, had no notable contributions with the bat in the match as he was bowled by Khushdil Shah for one run as Abdullah Shafique top scored with 65 runs off 40 deliveries. A cameo from skipper, Shaheen Shah Afridi who slammed 44 runs in 15 balls took the Qalandars to a defendable total. Usama Mir picked up three scalps for 24 runs in three overs for the Sultans while Khushdil Shah, Ihsanullah and Anwar Ali took one wicket each. In their chase, South African Rilee Rossouw top scored with 52 runs while captain, Mohammad Rizwan fell for 34 runs in 23 balls as the 2021 champions fell short of the target.

Afridi, who was named Player of the Match starred with the ball for the Qalandars as well as he took four wickets for 51 runs in his four-over spell. Afghanistan leg spinner Rashid Khan finished with figures 2/26 in four overs while South African born Namibian international David Wiese had one scalp as the Qalandars, for the second time against Sultans, won a last ball nail biting match. Raza did not bowl.

Zimbabwe versus Netherlands

After the conclusion of the PSL, Raza is headed back to Zimbabwe where he will feature in the three match One Day International (ODI) series against Netherlands starting tomorrow at Harare Sports Club. The Dutch landed on Friday afternoon at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and the tour will be important for both teams as they prepare for the 2023 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup Qualifiers that will be held in Zimbabwe in June.

Zimbabwe picked up a full-strength squad for the series which will be bolstered by the return of five experienced players who missed the Chevrons’ Test series against West Indies last month due to various reasons. These are Raza, Sean Williams, Tendai Chatara, Ryan Burl and Muzarabani. — @brandon_malvin