The Qalandars are vying for their first crown, while the in-form Sultans are eager to make history.

PSL’s seventh season is set to end on Sunday with a spectacular finale at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. It’s been almost a month of non-stop action.

The hitters in the tournament have hammered almost 400 sixes and more than 900 fours.

Due to COVID-19 constraints, PSL 2022 will be held in only two cities: Karachi and Lahore.

The difference between teams winning after batting first or second is negligible in the National Stadium. However, at the Gaddafi Stadium, teams batting first obviously have an advantage.

Quetta Gladiators won the 2019 season in their third try. They beat Zalmi in the final at Karachi’s National Stadium, and they did it again.

In the fifth season, the Karachi Kings beat arch-rivals Lahore Qalandars at their home field, National Stadium. It was the first time in the history of the competition that none of the Gladiators, United, or Zalmi appeared in the final.

Last year, the Multan Sultans were too strong for Zalmi, claiming their inaugural championship with a resounding victory.

What to anticipate:

The grand finale is likely to draw a capacity crowd. In terms of playing conditions, the pitch is anticipated to be sluggish, and the team that wins the toss will almost certainly bat first.

Ahead of the pivotal match, let’s take a look at how both sides performed in the final and assess their respective strengths and shortcomings.

At National Stadium, scores were higher and batting seemed to be a bit easier. However, hitters struggled to score at the Gaddafi Stadium against bowlers who knew how to adjust their speed.

History:

Islamabad United defeated Quetta Gladiators in the PSL’s first final in Dubai. Dwayne Smith (73 off 51) and Brad Haddin were the show stealers for the victorious side (61 not out of 39).

In the final of the second season, Peshawar Zalmi beat Quetta Gladiators by 58 runs in the final, which was the first PSL match to be held in Pakistan.

United won the PSL title again in 2018 after defeating Peshawar Zalmi by three wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium.

This year, Multan Sultans will be heavy favourites to win their first 10 games, including nine in the league stage. This makes them the first team to do this in the competition’s history.

The Sultans’ domination is unmatched in the PSL’s history, with no club coming close to them in virtually any of the fixtures.

They were only the second team, after Peshawar Zalmi, to make it to the final while defending their title this way.

Strengths:

The Sultans’ main strength is their hitting team, where each member did a great job at their job.

At the top of the order are captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan. He’s already scored 532 runs at an impressive strike rate of 128.96, including seven half-centuries.

While doing so, he became the first batter in PSL history to score over 500 runs in consecutive seasons.

Shan Masood, his opening partner, has now collected 459 runs at an average of 41.72 and a strike rate of 138.67, including four scores of 50 or more.

At the top, the team has been great. They have averaged 60 runs in their opening partnership, which is the best average of any opening partnership in the league.

Their success is due to their ability to rotate the strike and play the fewest dot balls of any opening pair in the league.

Apart from them, there is Rilee Rossouw—the reigning champions’ player of the match in the playoffs—who has scored 260 runs at an average of over 43.

Khushdil Shah’s emergence as an all-rounder has transformed the Sultans into a true powerhouse.

27-year-old Imran Tahir and Tahir’s teammate have both taken 16 wickets at an average of 12.31 in the competition. Tahir has 121 runs at an average of 24.20 and has a 198.36 strike rate.

One of their main strengths has been their spin bowling, especially after the addition of Asif Afridi, who has taken five wickets in four games and also kept the runs coming at a rate of seven runs per over. This is because of how well he has bowled.

He, like with Tahir, squeaks runs in the innings’ middle portion.

In addition, the captaincy of Rizwan, who has been the competition’s most visible leader, should not be forgotten.

He maintains his composure under duress and always conveys the impression that everything is under control, regardless of how dire the situation is.

A back-to-back victory by his team in the PSL will undoubtedly make people want Rizwan to lead the national team, at least in T20 games.

weakness

While it’s hard to find a weakness in the Sultans’ group, Tim David’s absence could hurt the Sultans’ batting order.

The right-hander still boasts the competition’s joint-most sixes (20), but is unlikely to play in the pivotal match after testing positive for COVID-19.

Even though David has been replaced by a very good hitter in Johnson Charles, it’s not very reasonable to expect him to be able to do the same things that David did before.

The Lahore Qalandars will enter the battle as underdogs, despite playing in front of their home fans, owing primarily to the fact that they will be facing an in-form Multan Sultans, who thrashed them handily in the Qualifier.

Strength:

The strength of the Lahore Qalandars is their bowling department, which is far and away the most powerful, at least on paper.

The fast-bowling team is full of matchwinners who can turn a game around with a few good shots at the right time.

This is why they are the most successful side at the tail end of the innings, having taken the most wickets of any bowling unit in the championship.

The group is led by skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi, who is also the franchise’s leading wicket-taker in the league.

He also has the services of Zaman Khan, who is superb at the death and has already made a number of match-winning efforts, at least at the death.

Haris Rauf’s presence is usually beneficial for the unit since he has the speed to bother any batter, but there is always a possibility of him going for runs, which makes him a troublesome package for both the captain and the spectators.

The spin department seems to be very useful, particularly now that Mohammad Hafeez has begun bowling. He is incredibly frugal with the bat and also has the potential to take wickets in crucial situations.

Another advantage for the Qalandars heading into the big match is Fakhar Zaman’s superb batting form. He is already the competition’s top run scorer and is on the verge of becoming the first batter to score over 600 runs in a single PSL season.

Shaheen’s leadership has been very encouraging for Pakistani cricket fans because he has made some brave decisions and kept his cool when things were going bad.

On the big day, though, his leadership will be tested in front of his home fans and against a seasoned campaigner such as Rizwan.

weakness

When the competition began, many predicted that the Qalandars’ batting would be their Achilles’ heel, and that has been proven to be the truth.

The team is very reliant on Fakhar Zaman’s form, and in the matches in which he has been unable to produce, the side has never looked like mounting a challenge.

It is self-evident that Qalandars’ winning the title with just one batter in form will be nothing short of a miracle.

With the championship on the line for the second time in three years, the management will be looking for a much improved performance from the rest of the batting unit, particularly from Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Ghulam, and Phil Salt, who have all fallen short of expectations so far.

With Rashid Khan’s departure, the Qalandars’ spin assault is significantly weaker than it was before, despite the fact that Fawad Ahmed is a more than adequate substitute and there is still the option of Samit Patel, Hafeez, and Kamran Ghulam.