Kusal Mendis 80 powers Zalmi to seventh straight win

Peshawar Zalmi continued their dominant run in PSL 2026, chasing down 183 with authority to secure a seventh successive victory. Kusal Mendis led the charge with an unbeaten 80, while Farhan Yousaf struck a composed 58 not out as Zalmi defeated Karachi Kings by seven wickets with seven balls to spare.

The result further strengthens Zalmi’s position at the top of the table, with their chase built around a decisive unbroken partnership.

Mendis and Yousaf take control of chase

Zalmi found themselves at 67 for 3 in the eighth over with the required rate climbing towards ten an over. What followed defined the match. Kusal Mendis and Farhan Yousaf combined for an unbeaten 119-run stand, steadily absorbing pressure before accelerating at the right moment.

Through the middle overs, both batters relied on rotation, consistently picking singles and twos while keeping the boundary options available. The chase shifted sharply in the 16th over when the required rate had risen to 11 an over. Mendis launched Abbas Afridi for back-to-back sixes, and Yousaf followed by attacking Hasan Ali with a six and a four, bringing 28 runs across two overs.

The pair maintained control through the closing stages. Boundaries from both batters in the 18th over kept the equation manageable, before Yousaf sealed the chase in the penultimate over with a six and two fours.

Mendis’ unbeaten 80 off 43 balls marked his fifth score of 50 or more in the last six innings, while Yousaf’s 58 not out represented his maiden PSL fifty in his debut season.

Kings fall short despite Roy’s effort

Karachi Kings opted to bat first on a surface described as ideal for batting but failed to maximise conditions. Jason Roy’s 85 off 51 balls stood out, but the lack of support proved costly, with the next three batters managing just 36 runs from 38 deliveries.

Momentum briefly swung when Azam Khan injected urgency with 35 off 19 balls, adding 63 with Roy in just 32 deliveries. That partnership hinted at a total beyond 200, but the innings lost direction once Azam was dismissed late in the 18th over. Roy followed soon after, and Kings managed only seven runs in that over.

The final over saw a dramatic collapse. After collecting 12 runs from the first three legal deliveries, Karachi lost four wickets in the next three balls as Ali Raza completed his maiden T20 hat-trick. The sequence included a run-out at the non-striker’s end involving Abbas Afridi before Shahid Aziz and Hasan Ali were bowled.

Raza finished with figures of 4 for 41, underlining his impact in restricting Karachi to 182 for 9.

What this result means

Peshawar Zalmi’s seventh consecutive win reinforces their position as the standout side in PSL 2026. The chase, anchored by Kusal Mendis and supported by Farhan Yousaf’s maiden fifty, demonstrated their ability to control high-pressure situations.

For Karachi Kings, despite Jason Roy’s 85, the inability to build sustained partnerships and the late collapse limited them to a total that proved insufficient against a confident Zalmi side.

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