As we look back on some of the cricketing stories from this year, Ali Khan Tareen, Alex Hartley and Catherine Dalton tell the story of a campaign which started with criticism and ended with reaching a fourth final in a row
Ali Khan Tareen: I was super-stressed before that first game. We were attracting so much criticism over our promotion of women coaches and our squad selection. One of the coaches asked that their appointment was made in a different media release to the announcement of the female coaches. I fired him. We had a new head coach, new specialist coaches and several high-profile players – not least Shan Masood and Reece Topley – had chosen to leave us.
The critics didn't like our overseas picks, our local picks or the balance of our side. We had done well in the previous few seasons – we had reached the final with batting-heavy teams – but I had taken over the management after the death of my uncle and the pundits were all suggesting we would finish in the bottom two with our bowler heavy squad. There was a huge amount of interest in the game – we had to shut 5,000 spectators outside the ground – and yes, I was feeling the pressure.
As chance would have it, our first game was against a Karachi side containing Shan Masood and run by our former general manager. We batted first and got off to a really slow start. We didn't bring up our 100 until the 13th over with Dawid Malan and Reeza Hendricks a bit bogged down. But with Hendricks kicking on and Kushdil Shah doing well, we made 41 from the final three and 59 from the final five to take us to a good total.
In reply, Shan could score from only one of his first 13 deliveries, Usama Mir conceded only 14 from his four overs and we won pretty easily. It was a huge relief. Afterwards I watched The Pavilion cricket show on TV. The panel – Azhar Ali, Wasim Akram, Mohammad Hafeez and Misbah-ul-Haq – barely mentioned our performances. They certainly didn't mention our female coaches. They just said Karachi played badly.
Usman Khan bats for Multan Sultans during the final (Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images)
Alex Hartley: I was a bit nervous, too. I sat at the back of the dugout and I had been pretty quiet. But the coach, Abdul Rehman, was brilliant. He said: "You come and sit in the front with the coaches, sister." It immediately made me feel part of the management team. It was a big moment for me.
Result: Multan Sultans won by 55 runs
Tareen: We had agreed a deal to sign Naseem Shah ahead of the season. He asked for a huge amount of money, but we were keen to build our team around him and went with it, anyway. Then, at the last minute, it became apparent he didn't want to come and we decided if he didn't want to come, we did't want him. It felt like a blow at the time but we made it into a positive. We didn't reply on superstars: we built a team.
Typifying that was Mohammad Ali. He had played Test cricket but he didn't have much of a record in T20 but we thought he was a good bowler and wanted to give him an opportunity. He took three for 19 in that second match and put us on course for victory. Afterwards I recall their general manager saying, 'on these pitches, you're a good side'. The suggestion that we needed a certain style of pitch really annoyed me. 'We'll show you,' I thought. I watched the show again. 'Islamabad threw it away' was the theme.
Catherine Dalton: Mohammad Ali was a great bowler long before I arrived. But he was very receptive to technical advice. We did talk a lot about biomechanics and he did want to increase his speed. So we worked on his hip rotation and he worked on the speed of his run-up. He had a great work ethic and he kept improving as the tournament went on.
Result: Multan Sultans won by five wickets (with one ball remaining)
Tareen: On the first day together, I wanted everyone to realise who they were representing. South Punjab isn't the most wealthy part of Pakistan. It doesn't have the best hospitals or schools and life can feel as if it is full of adversity. But what the people there do have is a warrior spirit. What they do have is a determination. And what I wanted to instil in our side is a sense of underdog and a sense that, we don't mind if you lose, but we mind a lot if you don't fight. To that end, we set up a 'Warrior of the Game' award which we awarded to whichever player best embodied that spirit.
Anyway, the thing I remember most about this game was Iftikhar Ahmed smashing 34 not out from 11 balls and saying he had never enjoyed himself more afterwards. His late assault took us to a victory which had looked unlikely at one stage.
Hartley: I had heard loads of rumours that Rizzi [Mohammad Rizwan] wouldn't talk to me, or look me in the eye or respect me. It was rubbish. The complete opposite was true. From the start, he called me 'sister' and was nothing other than welcoming and respectful. Anyway, in this came I recall him coming to me at one stage and saying: "Tell us, sister: what should we do?" I knew things were working then.
Related: How Owen Eastwood appointment inspired Multan Sultans' new era
Mohammad Ali was a hit, taking 19 wickets across the competition (Farooq Naeem/AFP via Getty Images)
Result: Multan Sultans won by five wickets (with six balls remaining)
Tareen: This was our first defeat. We promoted Yasir Khan to open with the view that he would attack and he limped to 43 from 37 balls. Reeza Hendricks (28 from 27) struggled, too. We felt we were really unlucky to lose David Willey to a boundary catch – replays suggested it was a poor decision – and we were left needing 22 from the last over. With two balls to go, Iftikhar got us within five runs.
Hartley: We saw Rizwan at his best after that game. He spoke so well. "Why are you sad?" he asked the team. "We played great."
Result: Peshawar Zalmi won by five wickets (with six balls remaining)
Tareen: Rilee Rossouw was another of those players around whom we wanted to build our team. He had been good for us in the past and when he asked for changes to his contract, we were happy to oblige him. But then, the day we were meant to submit our squad, we were told he didn't want to play for us, No context, no reason, no idea. I was furious. So I called Quetta and said I was happy to trade him, but I wanted first pick in the draft in return and we went for Iftikhar.
You can imagine, then, how pleasing it was when Aftab Ibrahim, our emerging player, dismissed Rossouw. Mohammad Ali bowled well again and we were back to winning ways. The panel in the cricket show were also saying how they had always rated Mohammad Ali now.
Dalton: Aftab Ibrahim made such a great start. He had been suffering a lot of lower back pain and was keen to change his action to avoid that and bowl with more pace. To see that start to work out was very pleasing.
Result: Multan Sultans won by 13 runs
Tareen: This was our first away game and there was some nervousness over whether we could do it away from our home ground. But Usman Khan made 96 and Faisal Akram, who I've known since he was 14, came into the side and bowled his left-arm leg-spin really well. It may sound odd, but I was particularly happy with the way Usman was out: he was trying to hit a six. I thought that showed he wasn't thinking about any personal milestones. I remember Rassie van Der Dussen, one of the best batters in the competition, playing Faisal out, too. That was brilliant to see.
Result: Multan Sultans won by 60 runs
Tareen: Usman went even better in this game, making a century. It was great to beat Karachi home and away. The result meant we had qualified for the play-offs.
Hartley: I remember sitting in the dugout next to Cath in this game and thinking, 'I bet there are girls watching this on TV right now and thinking "that could be me".' Normalising the idea of female coaches working in men's cricket is a big part of that. I want girls to think they can play and coach cricket.
Result: Multan Sultans won by 20 runs
Tareen: This was the first time we had any serious unrest in the squad. Usman was absent and Dawid Malan came to the captain and said, 'I'm your main batter; I should be back in the side.' But he batted so slowly. It was a high-scoring pitch. There was no help for the spinners and a really short boundary. Malan took 19 balls to score 19 and we never recovered. Iftikhar and Chris Jordan were brilliant with the bat. They added 75 in 28 balls to take us close. But that slow start cost us.
Result: Peshawar Zalmi won by four runs
Tareen: We dropped Malan for this match and replaced him with Johnson Charles. He made 42 from 18, so it worked pretty well. Usman was back, too, and made another hundred. We made 228 from our 20 overs. But Usama Mir conceded 68 from his four overs, the second most expensive analysis in the history of the competition, and they won off the final ball. Afterwards, when we were reviewing the game and making our awards, I noticed Malan had turned his chair to face away from the group. I decided there and then: he wasn't going to play for us again.
Result: Islamabad United won by three wickets
Related: "It is about so much more than cricket": Alex Hartley and Catherine Dalton's PSL experience
Mohammad Rizwan bats in the final against Islamabad United (Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images)
Tareen: The thing I remember most about this comfortable win was watching the TV show afterwards. By now, everyone was talking about how highly they had always rated our bowlers and what a good job our female coaches were doing.
Dalton: I don't want to give away any secrets but we did work on some slower balls and we did work on our yorkers.
Result: Multan Sultans won by 79 runs
Tareen: Yasir was our 'warrior' in this match. We recalled him to bat aggressively in the Powerplay and he did it really well. The other thing I remember is Jordan bowling Babar Azam (on 46) with a brilliant yorker. We managed to get the ball reversing quite early and he used it to devastating effect.
Result: Multan Sultans won by seven wickets
Tareen: It was probably destined it was all going to come down to a moment involving Naseem. Clearly we were still a bit annoyed with him. Or at least, using that feeling to power our underdog spirit. Our total of 159 was well under par but Iftikhar bowled well to drag us back into the game and, from the final 17 balls, they needed 31 and had only three wickets in hand. In came Naseem, though, and he hit Iftikhar for a four and a six to put them back on top. Suddenly they needed 11 from 10 and then eight from the last over. With two balls to go, they needed only one to take it to a Super Over.
Dalton: But then Ali produced this perfect bouncer and Naseem was caught behind. It was a clever, skilful bit of bowling and it got us back in the match.
Tareen: All the fielders surrounded the batter; the keeper came up most of the way to the stumps to prevent a bye. But Ali bowled a cutter and the batter (Hunain Shah) guided it to third for a four. They had won from the final ball. We weren't sad. We were overjoyed at playing so well, getting so close and creating such a great environment. We celebrated so hard people must have wondered which dressing room the winning team was in.
Hartley: It was the best dressing room I've ever been in after a loss. My overwhelming emotion was gratitude at being part of something so brilliant and special.
Dalton: I had to pinch myself that I was part of things the whole way through the tournament. I'm really proud to have played a part in breaking those glass ceilings. I really hope I see more women around the world working with men's teams. I really hope that one day you're judged on your ability to do the job and not your gender.
Result: Islamabad United won by two wickets (off the final ball)
A version of this article first appeared in the January 2025 issue of The Cricketer magazine. Subscribe here
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