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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter

ANDY FLOWER underlined why he is a legend of the game while bowling sensation, Blessing Muzarabani, showcased his potential.

Together, they helped their team power their way to an historic win, in the Pakistan Super League, on Thursday night. 

The duo helped Multan Sultan win their first PSL title.

Muzarabani took two wickets as Multan outclassed Peshawar Zalmi, by 47 runs, in the PSL final.

The grand finale was staged at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Multan are coached by Zimbabwe legend, Flower, who has overseen a remarkable turnaround of fortunes, for the franchise. 

“Congratulations to our boys Blessing Muzarabani and Andy Flower and their team, Multan Sultans, on being crowned the PSL T20 champions” said Zimbabwe Cricket, in a brief congratulatory statement.

Multan had an amazing run, when the tournament resumed earlier this month, in the United Arab Emirates. 

The organisers had to move the tournament to UAE following a coronavirus outbreak in Pakistan.

Flower told reporters that most people had written their side off, after starting poorly, in the Karachi leg. 

Sultans had a poor outing in the Karachi leg, where they lost four out of their five games, and were in fifth spot, on the points table. 

But, they regrouped superbly, in the Abu Dhabi leg, and outperformed Peshawar Zalmi, to win their first PSL title.

“I’m very proud of our boys, they performed sensationally actually. I think the best thing, about winning the trophy, is that we came back from nowhere,” said Flower, in a post-match interview. 

“We lost four out of five in Karachi, and I think most people had written us off.

‘‘Importantly, I don’t think anyone in the dressing had written ourselves off. 

“So, to come back from that, and inch our way back up that table, get into top two, the top two positions are, obviously, very important, for going through to final. 

“We did that straightaway. And, then, I thought the boys, under pressure today, they performed outstandingly well.”

Flower’s men were asked to bat first and they rattled up 206-4, on the back of blistering half-centuries from Player of the Series, Sohaib Maqsood (65) and South African top order batsman, Rilee Rossouw (50).

Chasing a record target of 207, in a decider, Peshawar’s reply never got going as a daunting asking rate of over 10 runs, an over, proved too much for them.

Muzarabani and teammate Imran Khan took two wickets each, at economies of under seven, and the ageless Imran Tahir, collected three.

The towering 24-year old got the wickets of the big hitting duo of Hazratullah Zazai (6) and Rovman Powell (23), with the Peshawar Zalmi restricted to 159/9 in 20 overs. 

It is the first time that the Multan Sultans have won the PSL since the league started in 2016. 

Multan have been part of the PSL since 2017 and had never been to the final before.

Flower has proven to be an accomplished coach, following his success with the England national team, and also as head coach, in franchise leagues. 

He lifted the 2019 Abu Dhabi T10 with Maratha Arabians.

He was a finalist, with Dehli Bulls, in the 2021 event. 

The 53-year old also had a stint in the Caribbean Premier League, and reached the final of the 2020, edition with St Lucia Zouks.  They lost to Trinbago Knight Riders, who featured another Zimbabwean, Sikandar Raza. But after reaching the Eliminator stage in the last edition of the PSL, Flower and Multan were determined to go for gold this time around. 

The Zimbabwean cricket icon has had an amazing month. 

He scored another first by getting inducted into the International Cricket Council Hall of Fame a fortnight ago for his extra-ordinary contributions to the game between 1996 and 2015.