Who has scored most runs in PSL 2020 League stage?

The COVID-19 has disturbed the entire sporting calendar of 2020. Ever since the spread of the coronavirus many of the sporting events across the globe were forced to stop midway through their season. One such event was the iconic Pakistan Super League. PSL 2020 was forced to stop due to health and safety precautions right when they were heading towards the knockouts of the tournament. But now as the spread of the virus has reduced to a certain extent, the Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to restart the campaign from where they left. But this time with a newer knockout format. Following the footsteps of the lucrative IPL, the PSL has also decided to bid goodbye to the age-old semi-final system and has adopted the Qualifier-Eliminator mode to provide a better advantage to those teams that finished at the top.

The second phase of the league will get underway on November 14t^h and will continue till the 17^th when the finals will be played. Due to the restrictions owing to the COVID-19, all matches will be played in the Karachi stadium. As we head towards this second phase of the tournament, let’s look at the top 5 run-getters in the league stage that happened before the lockdown.

1. Babar Azam

The Pakistan captain and the skipper of the Karachi Kings leads the run charts in the league stage of the tournament. With 345 runs to his name, he is way ahead of his competitors in this race. Regarded as Pakistan’s best modern-day batsman, he has done full justice to the hype surrounding him. All of his runs have come at an outstanding average of 49.29. His strike rate of 123.66 is also commendable because he is playing the role of the anchor in his team. With him showing form in the recently concluded home series against Zimbabwe, Karachi Kings will consider themselves favourites to lift the trophy. The fact that they are playing on their home ground also shifts the advantage in their favour.

2. Chris Lynn

This explosive opener was second in the list behind Pakistan captain Babar Azam. Opening the batting for Lahore Qalandars, he has scored 284 runs at an average just above 40. But the most fascinating aspect about his batting during the league stage was the pace at which he scored his runs. All of his runs have come at an astonishing strike rate of 179.75. This season he also became one among the very few people to have scored a century in the PSL. But the fact that he had a fairly poor CPL and that he had been warming the benches for Mumbai Indians right throughout the IPL may affect his confidence ahead of the PSL knockouts.

3. Ben Dunk

This swashbuckling southpaw from Australia was a sensation in the PSL 2020 league stages. Whacking the ball at a tremendous strike rate of 186.01, he averaged a whopping 53.20 throughout the league stages. Despite his high-risk manner of batting, he finished as the third-highest run-getter in the league stages. With 266 runs to his name that too by playing only 7 matches, he is a strong contender for the Player of the Tournament award. He along with his fellow Aussie Chris Lynn holds the key for Lahore Qalandars in this much-awaited knockouts.

4. Luke Ronchi

Wicket-keeper batsman from New Zealand, Luke Ronchi was apparently one of the very few players from Islamabad united, who shined in 2020 edition of the tournament. With 266 runs to his name, he has an equal number of runs as that of third-placed Ben Dunk. But a lesser average pushes him to fourth position in this illustrious list. With his team already knocked out, the chances of him adding to that numbers are ruled out and rightly so he would be pushed back from this list after the end of the knockouts which starts on November 14^th.

5. Shadab Khan  

The Pakistan vice-captain had a memorable season with the bat for Islamabad United, even though his side failed to make it to the playoffs he impressed with his batting capabilities. With 263 runs to his name, he stands fifth in this list of top run-getters of the PSL 2020 league stage. It is also to be noted that all of his runs have come at a strike rate touch above the 150 mark.

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