Lahore (GNP) :- The 11th edition of Pakistan Super League will kick off today. The opening match will be played between Lahore Qalandars and Hyderabad Kingsmen. The match will start at seven in the evening.
The other set of four teams is Hyderabad Kingsmen, Multan Sultans, Islamabad United and Rawalpindiz. In this format each team will play 10 matches after which a Qualifier followed by two eliminators will decide the finalists for the HBL PSL 11.
Of the 44 matches, 22 fixtures each are split between Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore and National Bank Stadium, Karachi. The night matches will begin at 7pm PKT, while the first match in 12 double headers will start at 2.30pm PKT.
For the first time in the history of the HBL PSL, a separate reward has been set for the franchises with the winning franchise getting USD 500,000, runners up will get USD 300,000, while the franchise with the best player development efforts will bag USD 200,000. The tournament winning prize for players will comprise USD 500,000.
Rawalpindiz and Hyderabad Kingsmen are set to make their debut in the HBL PSL as the league enters new era after historic team auctions in January and February earlier this year.
Babar Azam, the only player so far to feature in 100 matches in the league, leads the run-scoring charts with 3,792 runs, followed by Fakhar Zaman (2,964), Mohammad Rizwan (2,770), Shoaib Malik (2,350) and Rilee Rossouw (2,287).
On the bowling front, Hasan Ali (125), Shaheen Shah Afridi (122), Wahab Riaz (113) and Shadab Khan (105) are the only four bowlers with the 100 or more wickets in the history of the tournament.
