HBL Pakistan Super League 2016

Dates	4 – 23 February 2016
Administrator	Pakistan Cricket Board
Cricket format	Twenty20
Tournament format(s)	Double round robin andplayoffs
Host	United Arab Emirates
Champions	Islamabad United (1st title)
Runners-up	Quetta Gladiators
Participants	5
Matches	24
Attendance	201,609 (8,400 per match)
Player of the series	Ravi Bopara (KK) (329 runs and 11 wickets)
Most runs	Babar Azam (IU) (399)
Most wickets	Andre Russell (IU) (16)
Official website	psl-t20.com
2017 →

The2016 Pakistan Super League (or for sponsorship reasonsHBL PSL 2016) was the debut season of thePakistan Super League which was established by thePakistan Cricket Board. The tournament featured five teams and was held from 4 to 23 February 2016 in theUnited Arab Emirates.^[1] The opening ceremony and first match of the tournament were held at theDubai International Cricket Stadium on 4 February 2016.^[2]

Thefinal was held in Dubai on 23 February and sawIslamabad United defeatingQuetta Gladiators by 6 wickets to win the first title.^[3]Dwayne Smith of Islamabad United was awarded the man of the match award for his innings of 73 runs from 51 balls.Ravi Bopara of theKarachi Kings was named player of the tournament.^[3]

Around half of the TV viewing audience in Pakistan watched matches in the competition at peak times.^[4]

The opening ceremony of the tournament was held at theDubai International Cricket Stadium inDubai on 4 February 2016,^[5][6] hosted byYasir Hussain and Sri Lankan modelStephanie Siriwardhana. It featured live performances by singerAli Zafar, Jamaican rapper and singerSean Paul,Mohib Mirza,Sanam Saeed and other artists^[7] and ended with a firework display. A large crowd attended the ceremony at the stadium.^[8][9]

The player draft for the 2016 season was held atGaddafi Stadium inLahore on 21–22 December 2015. 308 players, including both Pakistani and international players, were divided into five different categories. Each franchise was allowed to pick a maximum of six foreign players in their squads which could have a maximum of 20 members.

Seven umpires and two match referees made up the match officials panel for the tournament. Pakistan's top ICC umpireAleem Dar stood in matches during the tournament as did West Indian ICC umpireJoel Wilson. Also a part of the panel were other Pakistani umpiresAhsan Raza,Shozab Raza,Ahmed Shahab,Rashid Riaz and Khalid Mahmood. The match referees panel consisted of former Sri Lankan ICC match refereeRoshan Mahanama and Pakistani match referee Mohammad Anees.^[10]

The official anthem of PSL season I, "Ab Khel Ke Dikha" was released on 30 September 2015. It was written, composed and sung byAli Zafar.

The venue for the tournament was originally planned to be a single stadium inDoha,Qatar. In September 2015 thePakistan Cricket Board announced the shifting of the tournament toDubai andSharjah in theUnited Arab Emirates.^[11][12][13]

Dubai	Sharjah
Dubai International Cricket Stadium	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium
Capacity: 30,000	Capacity: 15,000
Dubai Sharjah

Each team played each other twice in the league stage of the tournament in a round robin format. As matches were played in the UAE, all games were effectively at a neutral venue. Following the group stage the top four teams qualified for the playoff stage of the tournament.

The 2016 season of the PSL followed rules and regulations laid down by theInternational Cricket Council. In the group stage, two points were awarded for a win, one for a no result and none for a loss. In the event of tied scores after both teams faced their quota of overs, asuper over would have been used to determine the match winner.^[14] In the group stage teams were ranked on the following criteria:^[15]

1. Higher number of points
2. If equal, higher number of wins
3. If equal, fewest defeats
4. If still equal, the results of head-to-head meetings
5. If still equal,net run rate

If any play-off match had finished with a no result, a super over would have been used to determine the winner. If the super over had not have been possible or the result of the over was a tie, the team which finished in the highest league position at the end of the regular season would have been deemed the winner of the match.

Top 4 teams qualified for thePlayoffs
  Advanced toQualifier
  Advanced toEliminator 1

Notes:

• C = Champions;
• R = Runner-up;
• (x) = Position at the end of the tournament;

All times are inPakistan Standard Time (UTC+5).

Match 1

Match 2

Match 3

Match 4

Match 5

Match 6

Match 7

Match 8

Match 9

Match 10

Match 11

Match 12

Match 13

Match 14

Match 15

Match 16

Match 17

Match 18

Match 19

Match 20

All times are inPakistan Standard Time (UTC+5).

• As a result of this match Karachi Kings were eliminated.

The player of the tournament wasRavi Bopara of theKarachi Kings. Bopara scored 329 runs and took 11 wickets in the tournament.Andre Russell ofIslamabad United took 16 wickets at an average of 17.25 to be the leading wicket-taker ahead ofWahab Riaz ofPeshawar Zalmi with 15.Umar Akmal ofLahore Qalandars was the leading run scorer with 335 runs at an average of 83.75 and also took the most catches in the tournament with 7. Winners of the Spirit of Cricket award wasLahore Qalandars.^[23]

• Islamabad United in 2016
• Quetta Gladiators in 2016
• Peshawar Zalmi in 2016
• Karachi Kings in 2016
• Lahore Qalandars in 2016

• Official website
• Tournament Site – ESPNcricinfo

• 2016 Pakistan Super League
• 2016 in Pakistani cricket
• Domestic cricket competitions in 2015–16

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from November 2020
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia