Peshawar Zalmi 173 for 7 (Kusal 74, Babar 43, Shaheen 3-22, Mustafizur 2-30) beat Lahore Qalandars 97 (Fakhar 21, Bracewell 3-18, Muqeem 3-21, Nahid 2-15) by 76 runs

Peshawar Zalmi's dominant run in PSL 2026 continued as they hammered Lahore Qalandars by 76 runs, and secured the top spot on points table. Their captain Babar Azam and Kusal Mendis, who made the only half-century of the match, followed the record partnership of 191 in the last game with another century stand.

That followed a terrific bowling performance from Michael Bracewell, Sufiyan Muqeem and Nahid Rana, as Zalmi bowled Qalandars for 97 in their pursuit of 174.

Yet another early dismissal of Mohammad Haris brought Babar and Mendis together inside the powerplay. Kusal stamped his authority right away with boundaries off Shaheen Shah Afridi and Ubaid Shah. His partnership with Babar was not as blistering as the last one, but it followed a similar pattern, with Kusal being the aggressor and Babar providing the stabilising hand in the 109-run stand.

Sixty-five of Kusal's 74 runs came in partnership with Babar. He smashed five fours and four sixes in his 48-ball innings. Babar, meanwhile, fell for seven runs short of what would have been his second consecutive fifty after facing 40 balls. He had an injury scare when a bouncer from Ubaid hit his neck. Luckily, the blow was softened as the ball hit his shoulder on its way to the neck, and he continued to bat after receiving on-field attention from the physio.

Except for Bracewell's 21 from ten balls, Zalmi's middle order, which was stacked with pinch hitters, failed to make the most of the platform set by the top order as brilliant death bowling by Shaheen Afridi, Mustafizur Rahman and Ubaid brought Qalandars back into the contest. Zalmi could muster only 33 runs in the last four overs, when they lost five wickets.

Islamabad United had bowled Qalandars out for 100 only a few days ago on the same pitch, and their batters continued to struggle on it as Zalmi's Shoriful Islam and Nahid Rana made the most of the bounce and carry that it offered on Saturday. The two had a wicket each inside the powerplay.

Bracewell tightened the screws in the middle overs by taking a wicket each in his three overs in tandem, while Muqeem also chipped in with three wickets from the other end. The left-arm wristspinner now has ten wickets, the joint-most this season with Shaheen, at an average of 9.90.

While Zalmi have moved to the top of the table after victory in this match, two successive heavy losses have severely dented Qalandars' net run rate. The defending champions are sixth, and are followed by Hyderabad Kingsmen and Rawalpindiz, with both sides yet to win a game.