Peshawar Zalmi extended their unbeaten run in the 2026 Pakistan Super League (PSL 11) with a commanding seven-wicket victory over Karachi Kings at Gaddafi Stadium, making it eight wins in a row in the tournament.
Chasing 183, Zalmi got home in 18.5 overs with only three wickets down, thanks to a match-winning stand between Kusal Mendis and Farhan Yousaf after Karachi had briefly pulled things back in the powerplay.
Zalmi started brightly through James Vince and Babar Azam, who put on 37 runs for the opening wicket. Vince made a quick 16 off 10 balls before Hasan Ali struck, while Abbas Afridi removed Babar for 25 off 19 to leave Zalmi at 45/2 in the sixth over.
With Karachi sensing an opening, Mendis took control of the chase. The wicketkeeper-batter kept the scoring rate in check and brought up his fourth PSL half-century, anchoring the innings with confidence.
Zalmi lost Aaron Hardie for just five when Khushdil Shah reduced them to 95/3, but that proved to be Karachi’s last breakthrough of the night.
From there, Mendis found the perfect partner in Farhan Yousaf, and the pair steadily turned the chase back in Zalmi’s favour. Their partnership pushed Zalmi beyond the 150-run mark before Farhan accelerated sharply at the finish.
Farhan remained unbeaten on 54 off 35 balls, hitting four fours and three sixes, while Mendis top-scored with a superb 80 off 43 deliveries, including five fours and four sixes. Farhan then sealed the win with a boundary and also brought up his maiden PSL fifty in the process.
Earlier, Karachi Kings posted 182/9 after strong contributions from Jason Roy and Azam Khan, but they failed to fully capitalise on a promising platform.
Karachi made a solid start through David Warner and Roy before Ali Raza broke the opening stand by clean bowling Warner for 11. Roy then kept the innings moving and added useful runs with Salman Ali Agha and later Reeza Hendricks, eventually bringing up his ninth PSL half-century.
After Hendricks fell for 13, Azam Khan injected late momentum with a brisk 35 off 19 balls, sharing a 63-run stand with Roy. Roy remained the standout batter for Karachi with 85 off 51 deliveries, smashing 11 fours and two sixes.
But Karachi’s innings unraveled dramatically in the final over.
With the Kings looking set for a stronger finish, Ali Raza returned and changed the game with a sensational over. He was involved in the run-out of Abbas Afridi, then dismissed Khushdil Shah hit wicket before removing Shahid Aziz and Hasan Ali off successive deliveries to complete a stunning hat-trick.
The young pacer finished with 4/41, becoming the youngest Pakistani to take a T20 hat-trick, and his late burst proved crucial as Karachi’s total ultimately fell short.
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