Pakistan Super League, 2019: Match 2, Karachi Kings vs Multan Sultans – Statistical Highlights

Karachi Kings kick-started their PSL 2019 campaign with a 7-run win against the Multan Sultans thanks to a record opening stand. England’s Liam Livingstone and Babar Azam scored 82 and 77 respectively as Karachi cruised to 157/0 from 15.3 overs. However, they could only add 26 runs from the last 27 deliveries to finish on 183/6. Skipper Shoaib Malik’s 28-ball 52 and Laurie Evans’ 49 kept the Multan Sultans in the chase but the team ended up eight runs short of the target.

All the major stats and numbers recorded during the thrilling game between Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans:

A record partnership:

157 – The 157-run opening partnership between Liam Livingstone and Babar Azam is the highest in the Pakistan Super League for any wicket. The pair surpassed the previous highest of 153 between Shane Watson and Sharjeel Khan for Islamabad United in the match against Lahore Qalandars in 2016, also for the first wicket.

183/6 – The total of 183/6 is the 2nd highest PSL total for Karachi Kings. Their highest is 188/3 during the previous edition also against Multan Sultans.

183/6 – Karachi’s total of 183/6 is the 2nd lowest total in a complete Twenty20 innings, which included a 150-run opening partnership. During the 2017 Ram Slam T20, Lions completed their chase of 170 on the final ball of the 20th over losing four wickets after a 158-run opening stand in 18.2 overs.

A dream debut for Livingstone:

82 – Liam Livingstone’s 82-run knock in this game is the 2nd highest individual score on PSL debut for any player. Luke Wright scored an unbeaten 86 for Quetta Gladiators in the first ever PSL game against the Islamabad United.

This was also the first instance of Livingstone playing for a team not related to England. He featured in 47 T20s for Lancashire and two T20Is in England along with two unofficial T20s for England Lions in the UAE during the ongoing season.

A new milestone for Babar:

92 – Innings Babar Azam needed for completing 3,000 runs in Twenty20 cricket; the fourth fewest by any player. Babar is also the fastest to 3,000 runs among the Asian players in this format.

Check out: Stats: Babar Azam completes 3000 runs in Twenty20 cricket for the fastest to 3000 T20 runs lists.

50th fifty for Malik:

50 – Shoaib Malik’s half-century in this game was his 50th in the Twenty20 format. He thus became the first player from Pakistan and overall the 12th in Twenty20 cricket with 50+ scores of fifty or more.

Sohail goes for plenty:

57 – Runs Sohail Khan conceded in his four overs for Karachi Kings in this game; the joint-most runs conceded by any player in a PSL game. Anwar Ali also conceded 57 runs in his four overs while playing for Quetta Gladiators in the inaugural edition against Lahore Qalandars.

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