After the league round, the HBL Pakistan Super League 2023 will hold four playoff matchups commencing Wednesday.
The league stage of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023 has come to a close, and the competition is prepared to host four playoff games beginning on Wednesday.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan will compete in the first playoff for a direct passage into the competition’s final on March 19 at Lahore’s renowned Gaddafi Stadium, with Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans leading the table.
Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi were the other two groups that made it into the top four. To advance to Eliminator 2, where they will meet the loser of the qualifier between Lahore and Multan, they will compete on Thursday in Eliminator 1.
Due to the intense drama of the league matches, Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings were forced to finish fifth and sixth, respectively, and were eliminated from the playoff round.
Margins
The HBL PSL8 was an exhilarating rollercoaster of 30 matches that took place between February 13 and March 12, or almost a full month of cricket pleasure.
Lahore Qalandars’ crushing 119-run victory over Islamabad United in the league’s 26th game is the largest victory in terms of runs. Lahore defeated a potent Islamabad batting lineup for just 107 runs after scoring 226 total runs.
Multan Sultans defeated Quetta Gladiators by nine wickets to set the record for the largest victory by wickets. Multan needed to score 111 runs to win, but because to Rilee Rossouw’s blistering 78 off just 42 balls, they reached the goal with nine wickets remaining and 39 balls to spare.
In terms of margins, Multan Sultans in the HBL PSL8 tournament’s opening round were the side that came the closest to winning before losing. Zaman Khan’s wonderfully timed final over allowed Multan to hold on to a 15-run lead as they chased down the necessary 176 runs for victory.
With only two wickets left in the bag, Islamabad is the next team to attempt to chase down objectives. In the 21st game of the HBL PSL8, United needed to win by 180 runs, and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf saved the day by securing the team’s victory with a composed 39 off 31 balls.
Faheem was once again required to complete the task while pursuing 206 runs, and he did so with a sparkling 51 off 26 balls thanks to two sixes and five fours, giving them their second two-wicket victory.
Highest / Lowest Numbers
The highest total of the HBL PSL8 was 262 runs, earned by Multan Sultans versus Quetta Gladiators at the batting-friendly Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Usman Khan, 27, contributed 120 runs off just 43 balls to help Multan reach the highest total in all HBL PSLs.
After Quetta responded with 253 runs, the Multan-Quetta match established a new record for the biggest match aggregate. The match saw 515 runs scored in total.
In their encounter against Lahore, Karachi conceded 19 runs in terms of extras given in a single HBL PSL8 match: two byes, four leg byes, 10 wides, and three no balls.
Yet, the mark for the most wides in an inning—13—was tied in three games. On February 27, Islamabad bowled 13 over Lahore, on February 19, against Islamabad United, and on February 27, Peshawar bowled 13 over Lahore.
Batters & Bowlers
Mohammad Rizwan, the captain of Multan, has scored the most runs after the league stage of the HBL PSL8 with 483 runs in his 10 matches played. Babar Azam, the captain of Peshawar, follows him on 416.
Curiously, Imad Wasim, the captain of Karachi, who plays as an all-rounder rather than a specialist batter, is third on the list with 404 runs. In addition, he bats at positions five or six in the order, as opposed to Rizwan and Babar, who start the innings for their respective organisations.
The greatest individual score in the HBL PSL8 to date belongs to English batsman Jason Roy, who assisted Quetta in chasing down a 241-run goal while posting a score of 145 not out. During the course of the 30 league games, there were just three five-fors: Ihsanullah’s 5-12 in four overs, Shaheen’s 5-40 in 24 balls, and Abbas’ 5-47 in his full quota.
Abbas Afridi of Multan leads the list in wickets, having taken 22 victims in nine games. Ihsanullah, another Multan pacer, comes in second with 20 wickets in 10 games, and Rashid Khan, an Afghan spinner, comes in third with 15 from eight appearances.
Keepers & Catchers
The HBL PSL8 saw significant contributions from the outfielders and the man behind the stumps in addition to bowling and batting.
With 11 dismissals each, Sam Billings of Lahore and Rizwan of Multan excelled in the wicketkeeping category. Both keeper-batters successfully led their teams to the playoff round by taking 11 catches behind the wickets. Rizwan accomplished it in 10 games whereas Billing achieved so in 7.
The most dismissals by a goalkeeper in a single game were recorded by Haseebullah Khan (four catches against Peshawar), who was matched by Billings (four catches against Lahore).
With 11 catches for Multan in nine games, West Indian Keiron Pollard was the outfielder with the safest hands. Irfan Khan of Karachi is next with seven catches in eight games, followed by Shadab Khan, the captain of Islamabad, who also successfully held seven in ten games.
Irfan from Karachi’s outfield recorded the most catches by an outfield player in a single inning with three against Quetta.
Partners
Even in the shortest T20 format, partnerships are crucial since they have the power to make or break an inning.
Babar and Saim Ayub of Peshawar put up the greatest run total partnership against Quetta, scoring 162 runs for the first wicket.
Usman Khan and Mohammad Rizwan, who had a 157-run partnership for the first wicket against Quetta, are second on the list.
To claim the third slot on the list, Babar and Tom Kohler-Cadmore amassed 139 runs against Karachi for the third wicket.
In the batting order, most runs scored by a pair for the second wicket were between Lahore’s Fakhar Zaman and Kamran Ghulam (122).
The best fourth-wicket partnership was between Faheem and Azam Khan of Islamabad, who scored 125, and Shoaib Malik and Imad of Karachi, who struck 131 for the fifth wicket. Sikandar Raza and Zaman Khan from Lahore formed the best tenth wicket partnership, scoring 23 runs against Quetta.
