# 2018 Pakistan Super League final

The 2018 Pakistan Super League Final was a Twenty20 cricket match, played on 25 March 2018 at the National Stadium in Karachi, Pakistan to determine the winner of the 2018 Pakistan Super League. The inaugural champions Islamabad United defeated the defending champions Peshawar Zalmi by 3 wickets to win their second title. Luke Ronchi was awarded player of the match and player of the tournament awards. The tickets for final were sold out within 3 hours.

## Route to the Final

During the group stage of the 2018 Pakistan Super League each team played ten matches, two against each of the other sides contesting the competition. All matches were played in the United Arab Emirates due to the security situation in Pakistan. The top four teams progressed to the playoff stage. Islamabad United finished the group stage with first position by winning seven of their matches and losing three. Peshawar Zalmi finished the group stage with third position by winning five of their matches and losing five.

### League stage matches

* 24 February 2018
| Peshawar Zalmi 176/6 (20 overs) | v | Islamabad United 142/9 (20 overs) |
* Peshawar won by 34 runs Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
* 9 March 2018
| Islamabad United 182/5 (20 overs) | v | Peshawar Zalmi 156/9 (20 overs) |
* Islamabad won by 26 runs Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai

### Playoff matches

* 18 March 2018 First qualifying match
| Karachi Kings 154/4 (20 overs) | v | Islamabad United 155/2 (12.3 overs) |
* Islamabad won by 8 wickets Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
* 20 March 2018 Eliminator
| Peshawar Zalmi 157 (20 overs) | v | Quetta Gladiators 156/9 (20 overs) |
* Peshawar won by 1 run Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
* 21 March 2018 Second qualifying match
| Peshawar Zalmi 170/7 (16 overs) | v | Karachi Kings 157/2 (16 overs) |
* Peshawar won by 13 runs Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore

## Match

The final took place on 25 March 2018 at National Stadium in Karachi, Pakistan. This was also the first PSL match taking place in Karachi and a high-profile tournament final match taking place there after almost a decade.

### Report

Peshawar Zalmi won the toss and elected to bat first. Peshawar's in-form batsman Kamran Akmal was out lbw for 1 run off 8 balls, with Samit Patel taking the wicket in the third over early on. The fourth-wicket fifty-partnership between Chris Jordan and Liam Dawson; and Wahab Riaz's 28 runs off 14 balls ensured their side reached to a total of 148 runs in the innings in which Islamabad's Shadab Khan took three wickets.
Islamabad batting second had Luke Ronchi hit five sixes in the first five overs as he raced to 45 runs off just 15 balls, before he got out in the ninth over after scoring a 26-ball 52. By the time, Ronchi and Sahibzada Farhan - who played his own part with 44 runs off 33 balls - had put on 96 runs for the opening partnership in under nine overs. But a sudden collapse resulted in Islamabad losing six wickets for 20 runs leaving them at 116/6. Akmal then dropped a catch at fine leg when Asif Ali attempted a pull shot off Umaid Asif with Islamabad needing 30 runs off 33 balls. Asif Ali then hit three sixes on the trot off Hasan Ali. While the winning runs were scored by Faheem Ashraf who hooked Wahab Riaz for six with just one run required.

## Scorecard

Keys
* † indicates team captain
* * indicates not out
Toss: Peshawar Zalmi won the toss and elected to bat.
Peshawar Zalmi innings :
| Player | Status | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Strike rate |
| Kamran Akmal | lbw SP Patel | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 11.11 |
| Andre Fletcher | lbw Shadab | 21 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 140.00 |
| Mohammad Hafeez | c & b SP Patel | 8 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 133.33 |
| Chris Jordan | c Duminy b Hussain | 36 | 26 | 1 | 3 | 138.46 |
| Liam Dawson | b Sami | 33 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 110.00 |
| Saad Nasim | c & b Hussain | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.66 |
| †Darren Sammy | lbw Shadab | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Umaid Asif | lbw Shadab | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Hasan Ali | c Walton b Faheem | 6 | 5 | 1 | | 120.00 |
| Wahab Riaz | * | 28 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 200.00 |
| Sameen Gul | * | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Extras (lb 3, w 2) Total 148/9 (20 overs) | Extras (lb 3, w 2) Total 148/9 (20 overs) | Extras (lb 3, w 2) Total 148/9 (20 overs) | Extras (lb 3, w 2) Total 148/9 (20 overs) | 12 | 6 | 7.40 RR |
Fall of wickets: 12/1 (K Akmal, 2.4 ov), 24/2 (Hafeez, 4.1 ov), 38/3 (Fletcher, 5.6 ov), 90/4 (Jordan, 12.3 ov), 101/5 (Saad Nasim, 14.1 ov), 111/6 (Sammy, 15.4 ov), 111/7 (Umaid, 15.5), 117/8 (LA Dawson, 16.4 ov), 121/9 (Hasan Ali, 17.5 ov)
Islamabad United bowling :
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Econ | Wides | NBs |
| Samit Patel | 4 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 6.50 | 0 | 0 |
| Mohammad Sami | 4 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 7.75 | 1 | 0 |
| Shadab Khan | 4 | 0 | 25 | 3 | 6.25 | 0 | 0 |
| Faheem Ashraf | 4 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 8.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Amad Butt | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 6.50 | 0 | 0 |
| Hussain Talat | 2 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 9.00 | 1 | 0 |
Target: 149 runs from 20 overs at 7.45 RR
Islamabad United innings :
| Player | Status | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Strike rate |
| Luke Ronchi | c Fletcher b Jordan | 52 | 26 | 4 | 5 | 200.00 |
| Sahibzada Farhan | c Hasan b Wahab | 44 | 33 | 5 | 1 | 133.33 |
| Chadwick Walton | b Umaid | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| †JP Duminy | c & b Jordan | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Samit Patel | c Hafeez b Hasan Ali | 10 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 76.92 |
| Shadab Khan | c Jordan b Hasan Ali | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Hussain Talat | b Wahab | 7 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 63.63 |
| Asif Ali | * | 26 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 433.33 |
| Faheem Ashraf | * | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 150.00 |
| Amad Butt | | | | | | |
| Mohammad Sami | | | | | | |
| Extras (lb 1, w 5) Total 154/7 (16.5 overs) | Extras (lb 1, w 5) Total 154/7 (16.5 overs) | Extras (lb 1, w 5) Total 154/7 (16.5 overs) | Extras (lb 1, w 5) Total 154/7 (16.5 overs) | 11 | 10 | 9.14 RR |
Fall of wickets: 96/1 (L Ronchi, 8.5 ov), 97/2 (Walton, 9.1 ov), 102/3 (†JP Duminy, 10.3 ov), 112/4 (Farhan, 11.6 ov), 115/5 (SP Patel, 13.1 ov), 116/6 (Shadab, 13.6 ov), 148/7 (Hussain, 16.1 ov)
Peshawar Zalmi bowling :
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Econ | Wides | NBs |
| Hasan Ali | 4 | 0 | 53 | 2 | 13.25 | 2 | 0 |
| Sameen Gul | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Liam Dawson | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 15.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Wahab Riaz | 3.5 | 0 | 28 | 2 | 7.30 | 0 | 0 |
| Umaid Asif | 4 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 6.50 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Jordan | 3 | 0 | 22 | 2 | 7.33 | 3 | 0 |
Result: Islamabad United won by 3 wickets.

## Match Officials

| Role | Name |
| On field Umpire | Shozab Raza |
| On field Umpire | Aleem Dar |
| TV Umpire | Ahmed Shahab |
| Reserve Umpire | Rashid Riaz |
| Match Referee | Roshan Mahanama |