LAHORE: Since its advent in 2016, the HBL Pakistan Super League has made a place for itself amongst the top T20 leagues in the world because of high quality on-field action. With the opening match of the fifth edition only three days away, the build-up continues for what promises to be another exciting season which will keep fans and followers glued to the cricketing-action. Statistician Mazher Arshad takes a look at the various records and interesting stats from the last four seasons.
Most successful team: With a win percentage of 61.90, reigning champions Quetta Gladiators are the most successful team in the history of HBL PSL followed by Peshawar Zalmi (58.69). Gladiators have won 26 out of 42 completed matches. They became the most successful team last year, replacing Islamabad United, who until the start of the previous season had the highest win percentage (59.67). In terms of title wins, however, United are still the best team, winning the tournament twice in 2016 and 2018. Zalmi (2017) and Gladiators (2019) have won the tournament once.
Highest and lowest totals: 238 for three in 20 overs is the highest total in HBL PSL which was recorded by Islamabad United against Lahore Qalandars in Karachi in 2019. The previous season also saw Peshawar Zalmi scoring 214 for five against Islamabad United in Karachi and Lahore Qalandars registering 204 for four against Multan Sultans in Sharjah. That means the three highest totals of PSL were scored in the 2019 edition. Qalandars’ 59 all-out against Zalmi in the 2017 edition remains the lowest total in HBL PSL.
Highest Powerplay score: Two teams scored 78 in the first six overs of an innings in the 2019 edition. Karachi Kings did it with the loss of one wicket against Islamabad United, while Multan Sultans scored 78 for two against Lahore Qalandars. Before the last edition, the highest Powerplay total was 77 for one by Gladiators which came in their famous 203-run chase against Qalandars in Dubai in the inaugural edition.
The winning streak: The team with the biggest winning streak in the tournament is Islamabad United. They won six matches in a row between 2016 and 2017. They also won five games on the trot in 2018. No other team in the HBL PSL has won five consecutive matches.
Most prolific batsman: With 1,286 runs at an average of 29.22 and a strike-rate of 134.51, Peshawar Zalmi’s Kamran Akmal has been the most successful batsman across four editions. Kamran has played all four seasons for Zalmi and is the only batsman with two centuries in the league. The most prolific batsman among overseas players is Shane Watson with 1,114 runs at 33.75. Watson played the first two tournaments for United and the last two for Gladiators. He was also player-of-the-tournament in 2019.
Centuries in PSL: There have been five centuries, two of which came in the last edition by Karachi Kings’ Colin Ingram (127 not out against Gladiators in Sharjah) and Islamabad United’s Cameron Delport (117 not out against Qalandars in Karachi). The previous two centuries were scored by Kamran Akmal – 104 against Kings in Dubai in 2017 and 107 not out against Qalandars in Sharjah in 2018. The maiden century in the tournament belongs to Sharjeel Khan, who amassed 117 for Islamabad United against Zalmi in Dubai in 2016.
Most destructive batsman: Islamabad United’s Luke Ronchi has earned the reputation of being the most destructive batsman of the league due to a staggering strike-rate of 169.81 – the highest among 51 batsmen with at least 200 runs in the tournament. That United won the tournament in 2018 was down to Ronchi’s performance at the top order. He has featured in only two seasons (2018 and 2019) but scored 754 runs at an average of 35.90. Among local players, the batsman with the highest strike-rate is another United player Asif Ali (164.26).
Most prolific bowler: Left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz is on the top of the leading wicket-taker chart with 65 wickets at an average of 17.38. He has played all four seasons for Zalmi. The next leading wicket-taker is another Zalmi bowler – Hasan Ali with 51 wickets at 18.82. There is no overseas bowler in the top ten leading wicket-takers in the HBL PSL, which shows the strength of local bowling talent. Watson and Tymal Mills (23 wickets each) are the highest wicket-takers among foreign players in the HBL PSL.
Five wicket-hauls: Six bowlers have registered five-wicket hauls in the HBL PSL with the most recent coming from Islamabad United’s Faheem Ashraf, who accounted for six for 19 against Lahore Qalandars in Karachi in 2019. But the best figures of the HBL PSL still belong to Ravi Bopara, who grabbed six for 16 in Sharjah in the first edition. Umar Gul (six for 24 against Quetta Gladiators in Dubai in 2018) is another bowler with a six-fer. The other three bowlers with a five-wicket haul are: Shaheen Shah Afridi (five for four against Multan Sultans in Dubai in 2018), Shahid Afridi (five for seven against Quetta Gladiators in Sharjah in 2016) and Mohammad Sami (five for eight against Karachi Kings in Dubai in 2016).