Peshawar Zalmi 218 for 5 (Haris 47, Babar 39, Bracewell 35*, Samad 33, Butt 2-45) beat Rawalpindi Pindiz 214 for 4 (Yasir 83, Rizwan 41, Raza 2-42) by five wickets

A breathtaking fifth-wicket partnership of 64 runs from just 23 balls between Michael Bracewell (35 not out off 17) and Abdul Samad (33 from 11) secured an improbable win for Peshawar Zalmi in their PSL 2026 opener against debutants Rawalpindi Pindiz. Zalmi looked on course to lose in pursuit of 215 as they needed 74 from the last five overs with new batters at the crease after the wickets of Kusal Mendis and Aaron Hardie in the last two overs.

But in what was a sensational display of T20 power hitting, Bracewell and Samad plundered 18 and 16 runs off Rishad Hossain and Naseem Shah in the 16th and 17th overs, respectively. Both the bowlers had been very economical until then.

The victory seemed plausible when Samad, who hit four sixes in total, smashed Mohammad Amir for two sixes and a four in the 18th over. It became certain after Aamer Jamal (17 not out off five balls) smoked Naseem for a six and a four in the penultimate over which cost 20 runs, the most in the innings, to leave only one run required in the final over.

This is the first time Zalmi surmounted these many to win a PSL contest, and only the third time in PSL history that a target of 200 or more has been scaled at the Gaddafi Stadium. Zalmi had a promising start to the run chase, with their captain Babar Azam picking two boundaries off Amir in the first over with beautifully timed strokes through cover and midwicket.

Babar and his opening partner Mohammad Haris got boundaries regularly, and brought up a 50-run stand inside the fifth over. But they lost momentum from the sixth over onwards, and Zalmi did not score a boundary for 26 balls till the end of the ninth over, a by-product of which was Babar's wicket. To compound their woes, Haris fell in the next over, and just when Kusal seemed to stabilise the chase, he also departed at the start of the 15th over.

More to follow...