Home at last, then closed
The fifth season did what the four before it had been building towards: every match in Pakistan, thirty-four of them, across Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan. The opening ceremony was in Karachi on 20 February. Rawalpindi and Multan were staging the competition for the first time. Crowds were large; the reported aggregate attendance of 555,320 remains the highest the tournament has recorded.
Then the pandemic arrived. Thirty matches had been played when the Pakistan Cricket Board suspended the four remaining fixtures in mid-March. For a period in late March the board considered awarding the title on group standings. In July it announced the season would be completed in November. In September the fixtures were confirmed for the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, and in late October they were moved again, to the National Stadium in Karachi, because of the smog that settles over Lahore at that time of year.
So the playoffs were played on 14, 15 and 17 November, eight months after the group stage they resolved, in front of restricted crowds and with squads that had changed.
Babar Azam's season
Multan Sultans topped the group stage, with Karachi Kings second. Babar Azam made 473 runs for Karachi, the most in the tournament, and Shaheen Afridi took 17 wickets for Lahore Qalandars, the most of any bowler. Chris Lynn's 113 from 55 balls for Lahore was the highest score of the season, and Rilee Rossouw made 100 from 44 for Quetta Gladiators.
The Qualifier in November was the best match of the four. Multan made 141 for 7, Karachi finished on exactly 141 for 8, and the tie went to a Super Over: Karachi 13 for 2, Multan 9 for 0. Babar's 65 from 53 took the match award. Lahore Qalandars beat Peshawar Zalmi in Eliminator 1, Mohammad Hafeez making 74 not out from 46, then beat Multan by 25 runs in Eliminator 2, David Wiese taking 3 for 27 and making 48 not out from 21.
Karachi, 17 November
Lahore batted first in the final and made 134 for 7. It was not enough. Karachi lost five wickets in the chase but got there with eight balls remaining, Babar taking the match award to go with the tournament award, and Karachi Kings won the competition for the first time in five attempts.
For Lahore Qalandars it was a fourth-place finish in a group stage they had spent four previous seasons at the bottom of, and their first final. They would win the next two they reached.