** Lahore Qalandars Sunday defeated Multan Sultans by 42 runs and bag their first Pakistan Super League (PSL) in seven editions, at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.**

Sultans in their 181-run chase failed to deliver as their top-order batsmen Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, and Aamer Azmat were dismissed for 14, 19, and 6 respectively.

Qalandars’ skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi stood out with his brilliant bowling crushing the middle order of Multan Sultans. He took the wickets of Tim David, David Willey and Rumman Raees.

Tim David was dismissed for 27 while Khushdal Shah was dismissed for 32. Sultans were bowled out at 138.

Earlier Lahore Qalandars set 181-runs target for Multan Sultans to win the final after they won the toss and decided to bat first but they got off to the worst possible start as their 3 batsmen returned to the pavilion with a total score of 25 runs in 4.2 overs.

Muhammad Hafeez and Harry Brook played good innings. Hafeez scored 69 runs off 45 with the help of 9 fours and 1 six while Brook added 41 runs off 22 bowls on the Qalandars scorecard.

David Wiese hammered some belligerent hits and helped Qalandars sail towards a competitive total of 181 runs in 20 overs. Wiese scored 28-runs off just 8 balls smashing 3 sixes and 1 four.

Asif Afridi was the most successful bowler for Multan Sultans who guided 3 players to the pavilion for 19 runs in 4 overs while David Willey and Shahnawaz Dahani took one wicket each.

It should be noted that Multan has so far suffered its only defeat in PSL Seven against Lahore Qalandars.

Before the toss, the closing ceremony of PSL 7 was held at Gaddafi Stadium in which Chairman PCB Rameez Raja thanked all the organizers including security agencies for the excellent organization of the event.

So far, Islamabad is the only team to have won two PSL trophies, first in 2016 and then again in 2018. Besides, Peshawar Zalmi (2017), Quetta Gladiators (2019), Karachi Kings (2020), and Multan Sultans (2021) have each won the tournament once. Before this final, Lahore Qalandars were the only team without a PSL trophy