KARACHI: Kusal Mendis struck a blistering century while Babar Azam smashed an unbeaten 87 as Peshawar Zalmi handed Kar­achi Kings a crushing 159-run defeat here at the National Bank Stadium on Thursday night.

The top-order pair’s brilliance, followed by Abdul Samad’s late onslaught, propelled Zalmi to a mammoth 246-3 before their bowlers skittled the Kings for a paltry 87, with Nahid Rana, Sufiyan Muqeem and Iftikhar Ahmed claiming three wickets each to seal the heaviest victory in PSL history.

The victory lifted Zalmi to second in the PSL standings with three wins out of four matches —one of which was washed out — as Karachi dropped to fourth.

Mendis smashed 109 off 52 balls, hitting 14 fours and four sixes, while sharing a record 191-run partnership — the highest in PSL history — with Babar, whose 51-ball knock included 10 boundaries and two sixes.

Samad then capped the innings with a belligerent 40 off just 12 balls, hammering three fours and four sixes after arriving at the crease at the start of the 18th over.

Zalmi raced to 65-1 in powerplay, both Babar and Mendis displaying flair and aggression after Mohammad Haris fell on the second ball of the innings to spinner Khushdil Shah.

Mendis launched the counterattack with consecutive sixes off Mir Hamza, while Babar accelerated at the other end with two fours and a six — the latter taking him past 12,000 T20 runs — off Khushdil.

Mendis then took apart Abbas Afridi for three successive fours, before both batters capped the powerplay with a boundary each.

The Sri Lankan brought up his half-century off 26 balls in the ninth over, having earlier swept Adam Zampa for six. He continued to dominate, pulling and driving Hamza Sohail for boundaries as Zalmi reached 102-1 at the halfway mark.

Babar reached his fifty off 32 balls, elegantly driving Moeen Ali inside out before striking him through the covers for consecutive boundaries.

Zalmi surged past 150 in the next over as Babar and Mendis took further toll on Zampa, wi­th the latter reaching his century off just 48 balls. Zampa endured a tough outing as both the batters continued to attack but the partnership was eventually broken when Mendis miscued an attempted big hit against Abbas to substitute Haroon Arshad in the covers.

Abbas struck again two balls later, dismissing Michael Bracewell, who had earlier hit a six off his first delivery, as Zalmi briefly lost momentum.

However, Babar ensured there was no let-up, guiding Zalmi past 200 in the 18th over with a crisp boundary off Mir Hamza.

Samad then unleashed a stunning display of power-hitting, smashing Abbas for three consecutive sixes before plundering Mir Hamza for three fours and a six in the final over to lift Zalmi to an imposing total.

Kings’ chase began disastrously, with Moha­mmad Waseem holing out to Iftikhar on the third ball. Farhan Yousuf’s diving catch then removed captain David Warner, while Iftikhar trapped Salman Ali Agha lbw to deepen the crisis as they fell to 8-3 in the third over.

Azam Khan (25 off 27) briefly resisted with a six, but the Kings only managed to limp to 27-3 in powerplay. Nahid Rana’s sharp bouncer accounted for Saad Baig, and Moeen Ali soon followed, falling to Sufiyan Muqeem.

Any hopes of recovery ended when Azam was bowled by Sufiyan, leaving Karachi at 65-6.

Play was halted for nearly 30 minutes due to a technical fault with the spider cam, which remained suspended above the pitch.

After the resumption, wickets continued to tumble. Khushdil top-edged a Nahid delivery to the wicket-keeper, while Nahid then bow­led Zampa to complete his three-wicket haul.

Sufiyan also claimed his third by dismissing Abbas, before Iftikhar wrapped up the innings as Mendis stumped Hamza Sohail to seal a comprehensive victory for Zalmi.

SCOREBOARD

PESHAWAR ZALMI:

Mohammad Haris c Salman b Khushdil 0

Babar Azam not out 87

Kusal Mendis c (sub) b Abbas 109

Michael Bracewell c Azam b Abbas 6

Abdul Samad not out 40

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-3) 4

TOTAL (for three wickets, 20 overs) 246

DID NOT BAT: Farhan Yousaf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Aamer Jamal, Sufiyan Muqeem, Shoriful Islam, Nahid Rana

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Haris), 2-191 (Mendis), 3-197 (Bracewell)

BOWLING: Khushdil 4-0-37-1 (1w), Mir Hamza 4-0-57-0, M. Hamza 3-0-30-0 (2w), Abbas 4-0-55-2, Zampa 4-0-51-0, Ali 1-0-15-0

KARACHI KINGS:

Mohammad Waseem c Aamer b Iftikhar 0

David Warner c Farhan b Shoriful 0

Salman Ali Agha lbw b Iftikhar 5

Saad Baig c&b Nahid 14

Azam Khan b Sufiyan 25

Moeen Ali c Samad b Sufiyan 9

Khushdil Shah c Mendis b Nahid 10

Abbas Afridi c Farhan b Sufiyan 9

Adam Zampa b Nahid 0

Mir Hamza not out 4

Mohammad Hamza st Mendis b Iftikhar 2

EXTRAS (LB-2, NB-1, W-6) 9

TOTAL (all out, 16.1 overs) 87

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Waseem), 2-4 (Warner), 3-8 (Salman), 4-35 (Saad), 5-50 (Ali), 6-65 (Azam), 7-81 (Khushdil), 8-81 (Zampa), 9-81 (Abbas)

BOWLING: Iftikhar 2.1-0-9-3, Shoriful 3-0-23-1 (3w, 1nb), Nahid 4-1-7-3, Aamer 3-0-28-0 (3w), Sufiyan 4-0-18-3

RESULT: Peshawar Zalmi won by 159 runs.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Kusal Mendis