Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy led Peshawar Zalmi to the Pakistan Super League Twenty20 title with a 58-run victory against Quetta Gladiators in a trouble-free final on Sunday.
Extraordinary security measures did not stop thousands of cricket-starved Pakistani fans from going to the Gaddafi Stadium and watching Quetta being bowled out for only 90 in 16.3 overs.
Sammy’s knock of 28 off 11 balls had earlier lifted Peshawar’s total to 148-6 after he lost the toss and his team was put in to bat.
“I felt tonight I brought a lot of smiles in Lahore and Peshawar,” Sammy said. “I am glad I came to experience the atmosphere here.”
Sammy, who twice led the West Indies to the World Twenty20 title, was among nine foreign cricketers who agreed to travel to eastern city of Lahore early Sunday as stringent security measures were put in place around the 25,000-capacity stadium.
Pakistan has not hosted a major test-playing nation since 2009 when an attack on a Sri Lanka team bus – also in Lahore – killed seven policemen and injured several Sri Lanka players.
Since the attack in 2009, only Zimbabwe has visited Pakistan for a short limited-overs series in 2015.
PSL chairman Najam Sethi, who is also chairman of the PCB’s executive committee, said on Sunday that he looked at the PSL final as the opening for Pakistan to bring back international cricket.
He said that the PCB was in talks with the cricket boards of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to tour Pakistan later this year.
Security officials from cricket boards – including Australia, Sri Lanka, England and Bangladesh – and the International Cricket Council were also present at the stadium to see exhaustive security measures put in place.
There was a festive mood inside the stadium but earlier thousands of spectators had started lining up in long queues to clear three checkpoints at least six hours before the final began.
Sammy was joined by England’s Dawid Malan and Jordan along with Marlon Samuels as Peshawar’s foreign players. However, Peshawar missed the flamboyant Shahid Afridi after the all-rounder was ruled out from the final when he injured his right hand in the last knockout match against Karachi Kings in the United Arab Emirates.
Last year’s finalist Quetta lost its four key foreign players who declined to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns. The team played its league matches in the United Arab Emirates.
But Quetta’s last-minute inclusion of foreign players in the line-up, including Rayad Emrit of West Indies, Anamul Haque of Bangladesh, South African Morne van Wyk and Zimbabwe’s Sean Ervine, wasn’t enough to match the brilliance of Peshawar.
AP
