Peshawar Zalmi Go Eight From Eight as Mendis, Farhan Dismantle Karachi Kings
LAHORE — There is a quiet inevitability about Peshawar Zalmi this season. Wednesday night at Gaddafi Stadium was no different — another chase, another clinical finish, another two points. Their eighth consecutive win in PSL 11, sealed with seven wickets and more than a full over to spare, keeps them alone at the summit and sends a clear message to every rival: no one has found an answer yet.
Karachi Kings had posted what looked like a competitive 182 for nine, built around a sparkling 85 from Jason Roy and a punchy cameo by Azam Khan. It looked, briefly, like a total that might cause Zalmi a sleepless over or two. It didn’t.
Roy and Azam Give Kings Something to Defend
Karachi’s innings got off to a measured start, with David Warner and Jason Roy picking their moments at the top of the order. The platform was sturdy, but it was interrupted in the seventh over when Ali Raza angled one into Warner’s stumps, ending a 35-run stand. Warner walked off for 11 off 13 balls, and Karachi needed their big guns to step up.
Roy was already in full flow. The Englishman middled nearly everything he touched, rotating strike with ease and punishing the loose ball without hesitation. Salman Ali Agha kept him company for a spell before Aaron Hardie had him caught for 12, leaving the Kings wobbling slightly at 71 for two.
Roy refused to slow down. He moved into the 50s — his ninth PSL half-century — with the same ease he’d started, finding a willing partner in Reeza Hendricks before Sufiyan Muqeem removed the South African for 13. At 98 for three after 12 overs, Karachi needed a late surge.
Azam Khan provided it. The big-hitting wicketkeeper arrived and immediately took the attack on, combining with Roy in a partnership that yielded 63 runs and dragged Karachi past 150. Azam was eventually holed out off Iftikhar Ahmed for a 19-ball 35 — three fours, three sixes — and Roy followed not long after, bowled by Mohammad Basit for a superb 85 off 51 balls laced with 11 boundaries and a pair of maximums.
The final over, bowled by Ali Raza, became extraordinary. He ran through the tail in a matter of deliveries — a run-out, a hat-trick that included a hit-wicket dismissal, and a yorker that would have made any fast bowler envious. Three wickets in five balls, including the hat-trick ball to dismiss Hasan Ali first delivery. Raza finished with three wickets; the chaos he caused in that last over helped restrict Karachi to 182 for nine — a score that, as it turned out, was never going to be quite enough.
Mendis and Farhan Make the Chase Look Effortless
James Vince and Babar Azam gave Zalmi an assured beginning. The two moved fluently, taking apart the early overs without fuss, until Hasan Ali nipped one past Vince’s outside edge for 16. The opening stand was worth 37 — a decent base.
Abbas Afridi then made the powerplay more interesting, dismissing Babar for 25 off 19 balls with the score at 45 for two. Zalmi had lost two senior batters inside six overs. Another side might have tightened up.
Kusal Mendis did the opposite. The Sri Lankan has been in exceptional touch all tournament, and Wednesday was another reminder of his quality. He picked his moments, accelerated at will, and brought up his fourth PSL fifty with the kind of control that makes opposition captains run out of ideas.
When Aaron Hardie fell cheaply for five — stumped going hard at Khushdil Shah — the game was still theoretically in the balance at 95 for three. But Mendis found an ideal partner in Farhan Yousaf, and the two quickly made the equation irrelevant.
Together they added 50 runs in a stand that was equal parts composure and aggression. Once Yousaf found his range, there was no stopping him — boundaries came in clusters and the target shrank rapidly. He swept Zalmi past 150 and then brought the match to a close in style, driving to the boundary to simultaneously reach his maiden PSL half-century and seal the win.
Yousaf ended unbeaten on 54 off 35 balls — four fours, three sixes. Mendis top-scored with a breathtaking 80 off just 43 deliveries, hitting five fours and four sixes. Zalmi crossed the line in 18.5 overs, with seven wickets and plenty of firepower still in the shed.
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