Top 5 matches in Pakistan Super League history

The Pakistan Super League is in its fifth season, and the four previous years have produced some incredible performances and encounters between the teams. The very first Pakistan Super League, back in 2016, included five teams with Islamabad United winning the title ahead of Quetta Gladiators, Peshawar Zalmi, Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars.

Multan Sultans joined the league two years later in 2018 and in the same season, finished fifth. Islamabad have since added another title to their repertoire while Peshawar and Quetta have also claimed a maiden title each.

So from stunning tons to iconic bat drops, which matches have lit up each of these editions and shot the PSL to T20 franchise superstardom? We have a look at five of the best matches in PSL history.

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#5 Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandars, March 9th 2019

Delport finally proved his credentials by blasting 117 not out against the Qalandars.

The only one-sided game on this countdown is a match that saw the most successful PSL team ever, Islamabad United, take on the least successful team, Lahore Qalandars. This was the first major match hosted in Karachi for some time and the crowd exploded when PSL superstar Luke Ronchi was caught behind off the bowling of Shaheen Afridi first ball, but this was to be the only real point of celebration for the Men in Green.

Usually Ronchi's understudy, Cameron Delport took off with some incredible shots to make light work of the Qalandars attack with short boundaries in play. A century partnership with Chadwick Walton and a brutal 21-ball 55* finish from Asif Ali to go with Delport's unbeaten 60-ball 117 launched the champions to a monumental 238-3. Shaheen's spell of 1-62 from four overs proved to be the most expensive in PSL history.

Also see – IPL Players List

The records weren't done though, because as the Qalandars attacked to make the scorecard look respectable, Faheem Ashraf took advantage with some extremely disciplined bowling to record a stunning 6-19 spell while his colleagues were sent to the cleaners. Faheem registered the second-best bowling figures in PSL history behind Ravi Bopara's 6-16 back in 2016, while the Qalandars managed 189-9 in response thanks largely to Sohail Akhtar's 75 from 34 balls.

#4 Quetta Gladiators vs Peshawar Zalmi, February 28th 2017

Mohammad Nawaz bowled a scarcely believable deciding over against Zalmi in 2017.

In an incredible turn of fate, for the second year running in the exact same game, Quetta Gladiators trumped Peshawar Zalmi by a solitary run in the Qualifier. In the previous year, The Gladiators had managed to sneak over the line after Kevin Pietersen's fifty and some neat bowling from Aizaz Cheema at the death, but the encounter a year later was to be very different despite a remarkably identical conclusion.

Again, Pietersen helped Quetta accelerate, but it was Ahmed Shehzad's excellent 71 from 38 alongside a late contribution from Anwar Ali that helped Quetta climb to an above-par 200-7 when aiming to seal a berth in the final. After cheap dismissals of Kamran Akmal and Marlon Samuels, Dawid Malan and Mohammad Hafeez both hit fifties to just keep Peshawar in the hunt in spite of good bowling by Anwar Ali and Tymal Mills early on.

When Hafeez was dismissed for 77 from 47 balls by Mohammad Nawaz, the Zalmi needed 59 from 37 and looked pretty slim to get home but Shahid Afridi had just entered and wasn't going to let the Gladiators ease into the final. A relentless knock of 34 from 13 balls by 'Boom Boom' took Peshawar right to the winning line, leaving them needing 7 from the final over, but an unbelievable passage of play was about to unfold.

In an unforeseen decision, captain Sarfaraz Ahmed decided to bring on off-spinner Mohammad Nawaz, who had endured a torrid spell of 46 runs from his three overs. Sammy started well, smiting a boundary before handing the strike to Chris Jordan needing two from three.

After missing out on the title in the previous season, a largely unchanged Zalmi were determined to put it right but a caught behind and two run-outs sent Quetta flying into the final and left Peshawar stunned.

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#3 Karachi Kings vs Quetta Gladiators, March 10th 2019

Ahmed Shehzad played an incredible knock against Karachi in 2019.

Another superb inning from Ahmed Shehzad this time saw him finish on the wrong side of the result. On a good pitch in Karachi, the home side started out well with Babar Azam, Colin Munro and Colin Ingram all starring in the opening and middle overs of the game before Iftikhar Ahmed bludgeoned the Kings to a stellar score of 190-5, with all the Quetta bowlers going at around the 8-9 economy rate.

Quick cameos from Shane Watson and Umar Akmal and three wickets from youngster Umer Khan left the match dead level at the halfway point but Quetta opener Ahmed Shehzad was not going to let Karachi get a foothold. A flurry of maximums and classy strokeplay got the international batsman all the way to 99 from 56 balls but a stunning catch from Colin Ingram saw Shehzad fall heartbreakingly short of a maiden PSL hundred with Quetta left needing four.

Shinwari was taken for almost 14 runs an over without a wicket prior to the final over but despite the odds being against him, he claimed a second consecutive wicket after Shehzad by dismissing Anwar Ali. Panic had engulfed the Quetta camp and after a single on the hat-trick ball, Shinwari bowled Sarfaraz Ahmed to send the crowd into wild celebrations.

Three was required from the final delivery, but accuracy and pace proved too tricky for Sohail Tanvir on that occasion and Karachi sealed an incredible victory by just one run.

#2 Lahore Qalandars vs Peshawar Zalmi, February 12th 2017

Captain Darren Sammy brought out a unique 'selfie' celebration back in 2017.

The 2017 PSL was witness to one of the craziest matches of T20 cricket ever as high-flying Peshawar Zalmi look on Lahore Qalandars. A star-studded Lahore batting lineup was ripped to shreds by the yellow storm as opening pair Hasan Ali and Mohammad Asghar removed Jason Roy and captain Brendon McCullum. Hasan also picked the wickets of the dangerous Umar Akmal and Grant Elliot, the latter thanks to a sensational slip catch by Darren Sammy.

Fakhar Zaman proved difficult to remove as the then novice and emerging player struck a defiant 33 from 19 despite wickets falling at the other end before he lost his wicket to Chris Jordan. Mohammad Rizwan was the only other batsman to reach double figures and the rest of the batsmen could not contribute as the Qalandars limped to a measly 59 all out.

Sunil Narine was immediately introduced early in the chase and he, in the company of Sohail Tanvir made quick inroads by taking out Hafeez and Malan.

It was Yasir Shah who turned the tide though, as he brought the match to life in the 12th over, just as Zalmi needed 13 from 54 with six wickets left in hand. Sohaib Maqsood was out via a wonderful catch from captain McCullum and Eoin Morgan was incorrectly given out to a Fakhar Zaman catch.

A wrong-un removed Darren Sammy to put the Zalmi seven wickets down for just 51 runs, but Wahab Riaz and Chris Jordan completed the last nine required runs over the span of the following 22 deliveries, in the process avoiding the most shocking loss in cricket history.

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#1 Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandars, March 2nd 2018

Islamabad's bowling attack was rampant when defending 121 against Lahore.

This match probably sums up the first four years of the Pakistan Super League perfectly. Lahore Qalandars were at breaking point and desperately needed to turn over top side Islamabad and this looked very possible early on. A surprise decision to give Fakhar Zaman the new ball proved very intelligent as he removed the ruthless Luke Ronchi second ball while Sohail Khan removed Sahibzada Farhan.

Despite Misbah-ul-Haq and Samit Patel also falling cheaply, JP Duminy played out a 36-ball 34 to keep Islamabad in the game while cameos from big-hitting trio Asif Ali (16 from 8), Andre Russell (15 from 12) and Hussain Talat (33 from 21) took the side to 121-9. The best bowlers for Lahore were Sohail Khan (2/23), Yasir Shah (3/20) and Sunil Narine (0/10).

Despite Umar Akmal and Fakhar Zaman falling very early in the chase and leaving Qalandars at 4-2 owing to Samit Patel's double strike, the chase looked very comfortable for Lahore as Agha Salman and Brendon McCullum forged a partnership until the 11th over. Salman fell two short of a half-century, cleaned up by Mohammad Sami which saw the Qalandars needing 45 runs from 52 balls with seven wickets in hand and McCullum still at the crease.

Denesh Ramdin and Sohail Akhtar didn't hang around for long as Sami and Faheem were among the wickets but McCullum, playing by far his slowest knock, was still keeping Lahore in the game. Sunil Narine threatened to take the match away from Islamabad with two boundaries off West Indies team-mate Andre Russell, but Russell took revenge with a soft dismissal.

Once Sohail Khan departed for 4 and Yasir Shah offered a simple catch to JP Duminy and was removed for 3, an incredibly close run out of McCullum left them needing seven from four balls with the last two batsmen at the crease. However, Salman Irshad struck a box office maximum from Sami to take them one run away before Irshad gloved a catch to square leg to take the match into a Super Over.

Brendon McCullum and Umar Akmal struck sixes off Sami to take Lahore to 15 runs off the over and there was much debate as to who would bowl for Lahore, but in the end, Mustafizur Rahman was handed the ball ahead of Sunil Narine. Two singles sandwiched a big six from Asif Ali, but it was left to Andre Russell with his side needing seven from two balls. A lucky top edge trickled away to the boundary which was then followed by a colossal strike over long-on to seal a spine-tingling win for Islamabad in dramatic fashion.