Why have PSL finals not lived up to the hype?

[SM1989]

We have not yet had a PSL final which has gone to the wire. Yet we have had numerous close playoff and group stage games.

In IPL we have had a lot of finals go down to the wire and be contested evenly.

Why is this the case? Are the teams in PSL not able to bring their best in the final?

 

[Rana]

Today was a very low quality final, terrible tone set by the LQ openers, in particular Tamim Iqbal.

The play off matches were pretty intense no doubt

 

[AAli98]

The less said about the standard of this league the better, still none the wiser as who paks off spinners will be in the nxt World Cup turning pitches?? Ifty??

Can’t see anyone giving Baba company whilst chasing big targets!!

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Looked like both teams batted on different batting strips.

Not even one Lahori batsman looked comfortable there. Even the inform Hafeez and Wiese struggled to middle one.

I guess the Karachi bowlers and their bowling coach understood the wicket a lot better bowling cutters/slower ones while the Lahori camp went with full phaaaast from the word go.

 

[Shams123]

Lack of quality players. We only had one worldclass batsman on display today. And had he gotten out earlier, lahore would have won today.

 

[Hasan123]

Other than Babars knock, the standard of cricket for today's game was poor.

 

[MMHS]

I think the wicket spoiled the party big time. Also, I am a bit surprised with the amount of animosity towards Tamim - after all he was the highest scorer of the innings and LQs other two main batsmen Dunk & Hafeez had a forgettable game. Without Tanim’s painstaking innings LQ won’t have posted even 125 today - it’s not that Hafeez & Dunk got out trying to make up the RR!!!

Overall, it was a pathetic execution of tactics by LQ that cost them the match - wrong team selection, wrong call after winning toss and wrong tactics during bowling as well - they allowed Babar & Walton to stroll towards 134, when it was never going to happen that KK will bat out 20 overs and would struggle for asking rate. Overall, the final nail on the quality of the game was KK’s finish - laborious way to reach 135.

 

[liam26]

Very poor one sided final. Karachi never looked in trouble during the chase.

 

[Shams123]

I think the wicket spoiled the party big time. Also, I am a bit surprised with the amount of animosity towards Tamim - after all he was the highest scorer of the innings and LQs other two main batsmen Dunk & Hafeez had a forgettable game. Without Tanim’s painstaking innings LQ won’t have posted even 125 today - it’s not that Hafeez & Dunk got out trying to make up the RR!!!

Overall, it was a pathetic execution of tactics by LQ that cost them the match - wrong team selection, wrong call after winning toss and wrong tactics during bowling as well - they allowed Babar & Walton to stroll towards 134, when it was never going to happen that KK will bat out 20 overs and would struggle for asking rate. Overall, the final nail on the quality of the game was KK’s finish - laborious way to reach 135.

Tamim played according to the pitch conditions and his role of accumulator. Had couple of his shots come of it would have been match winning innings. Fakhar and Hafeez are to be blamed here cause they failed to played their role and inject the momentum in the innings.

 

[MMHS]

Tamim played according to the pitch conditions and his role of accumulator. Had couple of his shots come of it would have been match winning innings. Fakhar and Hafeez are to be blamed here cause they failed to played their role and inject the momentum in the innings.

I also thought the opening pair gave enough on this track - I think 63 of 9, that’s at 7/over with all 10 wickets at hand. From there on they posted 61 from last 11, or 5.55/over - that too for Shaheen’s slog - not sure how openers, particularly Tamim lost this game? They gave enough to finish at 150+, even close to 160; which would have been more than enough here.

 

[Rajdeep]

I have not followed other PSL seasons...so cant comment. But from what I have seen today the standard of cricket is shockingly poor. Ben Dunk, Walton, Samit Patel,Weissi, Rutherford, Sohail Akhtar, Iftiqat etc are poor t20 cricketers. With so many mediocre players around, a cricket match will seldom be high quality. Babar Azam looked like a men among the boys. No attempt or pressure was put to get him out. They simply allowed him to ran away with the game. Agreed Azam is a top class batsman but not sure if he was tested enough. On top of that no crowd, bland commentary and poor broadcasting did not make it a very pleasant viewing.

But hey, some cricket is better than nothing and PSL should be proud of organizing the matches in such a short span of time. Onto better and bigger things now for both India and Pakistan with the upcoming downunder and NZ respectively. Cant wait.

 

[nextover666666]

It came down to preparation

Karachi came with a game plan it was evident , even if Karachi batted first I still think they would have won because you can see this team had a game plan

When it came to Lahore batting Karachi was sharp in the field and took catches and they bowled to a game plan and each bowler complimented each other
Karachi used the slowed delivary very effective as well

When it came to batting Karachi known that it was not a big total but also knew Lahore had a good attack so they just had to bat their way thru the game without taking risks even when some wickets fell Karachi was in control

The big issue was Lahore reminded me of defensive Pakistan when misbah was captain they wanted to take the game to 20 overs but in order for Lahore to win this match they needed to take wickets

Also the fielding and field placement was horrible no slips no one diving to stop singles or doubles no pressure put on the batsman this comes from lack of planning and also being brainless

Fact is you put up 134 you need to make every ball count , try to take wickets , put pressure , bowl to a game plan use the slower deliveries well , stop the flow of run and etc

This final lacked proper planning by Lahore and due to that it was one sided

That being said Karachi sticked with their game plan and wanted to win this match more and put in the extra effort

 

[Rana]

Whilst reading the match situation (following every ball), Tamim and Fakhar both got out trying to hit big knowing that they are not on course to make a big score (170+). Hafeez also rushed his innings because he knew LQ were not on course to get a proper total on this track. No matter how you look at it, 160 was still a par score and LQ openers just did not set the tone.

Babar was 100% correct when he said that there is nothing in the wicket, and you will get full value for your runs if you play cricket shots instead of playing cross batted hacks. Anyone who was analysing the innings by both openers, please note how many times Tamim played and missed the ball in comparison to Fakhar. He was clearly trying too, too hard and was just bogged down. It can happen to the best players so this isn’t a direct personal attack on him. He faced 24 balls (4 overs of the power play) in the first 6 overs and was hardly a run a ball (could be way less) if I remember clearly, whilst Fakhar’s strike rate was much better. The lack of rotating the strike on Tamim’s part was what let him down, as Fakhar was going very well today.

However, Tamim did do very well in play off 2 and Semi finals for LQ. Not exceptional but he wasn’t bad at all.

 

[El Generico]

Finals often do not live up to the hype even in international cricket. For example we were all expecting a close contest at the Champions trophy final and it ended up being a one-sided thrashing.

 

[nextover666666]

Finals often do not live up to the hype even in international cricket. For example we were all expecting a close contest at the Champions trophy final and it ended up being a one-sided thrashing.

That is true to an extent not just cricket a lot of sports actully for some reason don't have a great final

 

[Saj]

The pitch was a bit 2 paced but Babar showed that if you have the class then the surface wasn't a huge problem.

LQ's gameplan was a bit confused, perhaps they didn't build on the start they got with all of them wickets in hand.

For an entertainment point of view, LQ should have scored another 20 runs and it was game on.

 

[Rana]

Tbh the IPL final this year was quite a dull/ one sided affair as well. It is sad because Delhi Capitals had 2 chances against Mumbai Indians and they were outplayed in both the play off and the final.

 

[MMHS]

The pitch was a bit 2 paced but Babar showed that if you have the class then the surface wasn't a huge problem.

LQ's gameplan was a bit confused, perhaps they didn't build on the start they got with all of them wickets in hand.

For an entertainment point of view, LQ should have scored another 20 runs and it was game on.

Indeed he played well, but he had a target in front and he knew if he bats through, they are home. This is where LQ made the biggest blunder - they opted to bat first on a sluggish track, knowing that there will be dew .... and, their only spinner was Samit!!!!!

T20 is a funny game and just about 10-12 runs often changes the whole equation - had LQ posted 150 here, you would have seen a completely different ball game as the asking in middle overs would have crossed 8 on that track. I read, Babar said there was nothing on that track - if true, have to say not impressed with PAK Captain and his pitch reading ability. You’ll see it when he leads PAK in internationals.

 

[Markhor]

Thank god this circus is over. It's not that it's a T20 league, it's that there's far too many journeymen cricketers in this B grade league. I've no interest in watching 50 year old Shahid Afridi clinging onto his career like a magnet on a fridge.

And the irony of a Lahori batsman leading Karachi to a victory over Lahore.

Let's get back to proper cricket now.

 

[Syed1]

From my perspective it was an amazing final lol

 

[Rana]

From my perspective it was an amazing final lol

Tbh I think I got what I needed from this final as well ) Dilbar bowling out Hales was epic )

 

[Rana]

You’ve got to hand it Iftikhar chacha. What a legendary performance in a final of this magnitude!

In a tense situation he comes on to bowl and gets smashed for 14, starts looking around for Waldo as someone said )

Then he took 2 good catches on the boundary which was surprising. But when Imad Wasim blasted him for standing too deep in the first slip position ) no respect for the senior citizen.

Then the dolly of a catch he gave to mid on, opening the door for a possible Karachi breakdown ) Babar screaming at him in the middle of the park lol

Amazing banter with this guy in the XI

 

[naseem]

Tbh I think I got what I needed from this final as well ) Dilbar bowling out Hales was epic )

The lad is smarter than Rauf......good variations ....he bowled......118ks to 144ks....he bowled

 

[naseem]

If u take away Tamim....it's a good final....the pitch is not conducive to high scores plus good bowling by Waqas...Umaid Arshad .....Karachi and Lahore still have lot of loopholes .....hope they overcome it in future

 

[naseem]

Whilst reading the match situation (following every ball), Tamim and Fakhar both got out trying to hit big knowing that they are not on course to make a big score (170+). Hafeez also rushed his innings because he knew LQ were not on course to get a proper total on this track. No matter how you look at it, 160 was still a par score and LQ openers just did not set the tone.

Babar was 100% correct when he said that there is nothing in the wicket, and you will get full value for your runs if you play cricket shots instead of playing cross batted hacks. Anyone who was analysing the innings by both openers, please note how many times Tamim played and missed the ball in comparison to Fakhar. He was clearly trying too, too hard and was just bogged down. It can happen to the best players so this isn’t a direct personal attack on him. He faced 24 balls (4 overs of the power play) in the first 6 overs and was hardly a run a ball (could be way less) if I remember clearly, whilst Fakhar’s strike rate was much better. The lack of rotating the strike on Tamim’s part was what let him down, as Fakhar was going very well today.

However, Tamim did do very well in play off 2 and Semi finals for LQ. Not exceptional but he wasn’t bad at all.

Tamim SR in pp was 55....

 

[angrypathan]

Terrible pitches and a combination of world class and substandard players with not much inbetween.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

I think the wicket spoiled the party big time. Also, I am a bit surprised with the amount of animosity towards Tamim - after all he was the highest scorer of the innings and LQs other two main batsmen Dunk & Hafeez had a forgettable game. Without Tanim’s painstaking innings LQ won’t have posted even 125 today - it’s not that Hafeez & Dunk got out trying to make up the RR!!!

Overall, it was a pathetic execution of tactics by LQ that cost them the match - wrong team selection, wrong call after winning toss and wrong tactics during bowling as well - they allowed Babar & Walton to stroll towards 134, when it was never going to happen that KK will bat out 20 overs and would struggle for asking rate. Overall, the final nail on the quality of the game was KK’s finish - laborious way to reach 135.

Wicket was definitely the key factor; however I look at it from a totally different point of view.

This wicket actually exposed the true worth of modern day batsmen.
If modern day batsmen require a belter of a pitch to score some runs in tiny grounds with all the rules hell bent in their favor, then I totally support this kinda wicket in every T20 game.

Not only this kinda wicket strikes a fair balance between the bat and the ball, but it also separates boys from men. Only good batsmen with proper technique would be able to score. No wonder we saw the innings of Babar Azam vs Hafeez or Tamim vs Dunk.

Be it a T20 game but this kinda wicket assures that tulla maar players have less of a chance to dominate - and I loved it!