Fastest fifty in PSL: The Irish batter has become only the second batter to have two Top 10 fastest PSL half-centuries.
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During the fifth match of the ongoing seventh season of the Pakistan Super League between Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United in Karachi, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 9 wickets to kick-start their season with a victory.
A 169-run target was sealed in the 16th over to put on display a relentless spell of stroke-making. It was a 56-ball 112-run opening partnership between Paul Stirling (57) and Alex Hales (82*) which all but won the match for United.
Playing only his third PSL match, 31-year old Stirling couldn’t have started his journey on a better note. Other than winning a match for his team, Stirling entered the record books by registering the second-fastest PSL half-century at the National Stadium.
Having hit as many as four fours off Zalmi captain Wahab Riaz in the first over itself, there was no looking back for Stirling today. Boundaries continued to rain for Stirling and Hales as the pair scored 78 runs in the powerplay to find the opposition clueless.
It was on the last delivery of the seventh over that Stirling cut Peshawar spinner Usman Qadir for a boundary to bring up an 18-ball half-century. The Irishman hit a total of seven fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 228.
Hales, who completed his half-century off 32 balls, ended up with 13 fours and a six at a strike rate of 151.85. The English batter was accompanied well by Afghani batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz (debut match for Islamabad) who contributed with 27* (16).
Fastest fifty in PSL
| Batter | Balls | Team | Opposition | Ground | Year |
| Kamran Akmal | 17 | Peshawar Zalmi | Karachi Kings | Lahore | 2018 |
| Asif Ali | 17 | Islamabad United | Lahore Qalandars | Karachi | 2019 |
| Paul Stirling | 18 | Islamabad United | Peshawar Zalmi | Karachi | 2022 |
| Luke Ronchi | 19 | Islamabad United | Karachi Kings | Dubai | 2018 |
| James Vince | 20 | Multan Sultans | Islamabad United | Rawalpindi | 2020 |
| Kamran Akmal | 20 | Peshawar Zalmi | Quetta Gladiators | Karachi | 2020 |
| Colin Munro | 20 | Islamabad United | Quetta Gladiators | Abu Dhabi | 2021 |
| Kieron Pollard | 21 | Peshawar Zalmi | Islamabad United | Sharjah | 2019 |
| Paul Stirling | 21 | Islamabad United | Quetta Gladiators | Karachi | 2021 |
| Luke Ronchi | 22 | Islamabad United | Karachi Kings | Sharjah | 2019 |
