PSL 2026 Winner Prediction: Our Calls and the Result

Last updated: 26 September 2026 · PSL 2026 finished on 3 May. This page is the closed record of our PSL winner prediction.

Peshawar Zalmi won PSL 2026. They beat Hyderabad Kingsmen by 5 wickets in the final at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on 3 May. Our PSL winner prediction did not start with them. Before the season our model picked Lahore Qalandars at 30% and gave Peshawar 10%. Lahore missed the playoffs.

We made Peshawar our pick on 25 April, once they were top of the table, and rated them 48% before the playoffs. This page records each call and how it ended. PSL 11 had eight teams for the first time and 44 matches from 26 March to 3 May, all in Lahore and Karachi.

Who Won PSL 2026: The Final

Peshawar Zalmi won the final by 5 wickets with 28 balls to spare. Babar Azam won the toss and chose to bowl. Hyderabad Kingsmen were bowled out for 129 in 18 overs, and Peshawar reached 130/5 in 15.2 overs.

Babar Azam made two hundreds in the season: 100 not out off 52 balls against Quetta Gladiators on 19 April, and 103 in the Qualifier. Kusal Mendis was next on the run list with 550.

PSL 2026 Final Table and Playoffs

Peshawar Zalmi topped the league with 17 points. Three sides finished on 10 points, and net run rate put Hyderabad Kingsmen fourth, ahead of Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings. Islamabad United and Peshawar each had one abandoned match, against each other on 31 March.

Our PSL Winner Prediction: Every Call and How It Ended

We published our first PSL winner prediction on 15 January 2026 and kept this page updated through the season. The table shows our model’s title chances on 20 March, our last update before the first match, and how each team finished.

Our pre-season pick lost. Lahore Qalandars were our pick at 5.50, the price we recorded on 15 February. They missed the top four. We also rated Hyderabad Kingsmen and Multan Sultans no-bets unless they were priced at 50.00 and 80.00 or longer. Both made the playoffs and Hyderabad reached the final, so that fade was wrong.

Our in-season value call on Islamabad also lost. We rated Islamabad United value at 7.00 on 27 March and at 7.50 on 30 March, after six matches. By 27 April the price we recorded was 3.00 to 3.75. Islamabad then went out in Eliminator 2.

Our pick for the playoffs won. On 25 April, with Peshawar top of the table, we made Peshawar Zalmi our pick at 45%. Our last update before the playoffs, on 27 April, is below.

We also published match previews for 25 of the 44 matches, including all four playoff games. We picked Peshawar in the Qualifier (58%) and in the final (59%), and both picks were right. We picked Multan Sultans (56%) in Eliminator 1 and Islamabad United (53%) in Eliminator 2, and Hyderabad won both.

How Our Trigger Prices Worked

Our model gave each team a chance of winning the title. We turned that chance into fair odds (100 divided by the chance) and added an 8% buffer to get a trigger price. The trigger was the shortest price at which we rated a team worth backing.

A price above the trigger was a value call under this rule, and a price below it was a pass. The rule did not make the pre-season pick right. It only told us what price to wait for.

Team by Team: How Each PSL 2026 Side Finished

Peshawar Zalmi

Champions · 1st · 8 won, 1 lost, 1 abandoned · 17 points

Peshawar lost one league game, to Lahore on 25 April. They beat Islamabad by 70 runs in the Qualifier and Hyderabad in the final. Babar Azam captained the side.

Our chance: 10% before the season, 48% before the playoffs.

Hyderabad Kingsmen

Runners-up · 4th · 5 won, 5 lost · 10 points

In their first season, Hyderabad took fourth place on net run rate. They beat Multan by 8 wickets and Islamabad by 2 runs in the Eliminators, then lost the final by 5 wickets. Hunain Shah took 17 wickets.

Our chance: 2.5% before the season, 10% before the playoffs.

Islamabad United

2nd · 6 won, 3 lost, 1 abandoned · 13 points

Islamabad lost the Qualifier to Peshawar by 70 runs and Eliminator 2 to Hyderabad by 2 runs. Shadab Khan took 17 wickets.

Our chance: 24% before the season, 24% before the playoffs.

Multan Sultans

3rd · 6 won, 4 lost · 12 points

Multan lost their last two league games, to Hyderabad on 22 April and Islamabad on 26 April. Hyderabad then beat them by 8 wickets in Eliminator 1, despite 69 not out from Shan Masood.

Our chance: 1.5% before the season, 18% before the playoffs.

Lahore Qalandars

5th · 5 won, 5 lost · 10 points

The 2025 champions missed the top four on net run rate. Their last game was a 6-wicket win over Peshawar on 25 April. Fakhar Zaman made 401 runs in eight games.

Our chance: 30% before the season (our pick).

Karachi Kings

6th · 5 won, 5 lost · 10 points

Karachi won their first three games, lost the next five and won their last two, including a 9-wicket win over Quetta on 25 April. Net run rate left them sixth.

Our chance: 7% before the season.

Quetta Gladiators

7th · 3 won, 7 lost · 6 points

The 2025 runners-up won three of their ten games and did not reach the playoffs.

Our chance: 13% before the season.

Rawalpindiz

8th · 1 won, 9 lost · 2 points

Rawalpindiz lost their first eight games. Their only win came against Islamabad on 23 April.

Our chance: 12% before the season.

The Dew Factor: Chasing and the Toss in PSL 2026

Captains often bowl first in night games in Pakistan, because dew can make the ball wet and hard to grip. PSL 2026 followed that pattern. The toss winner chose to bowl in 32 of the 43 matches that were played.

Chasing sides won 28 of those 43 matches. At Gaddafi Stadium they won 15 of 21, and at National Bank Stadium 13 of 22. Every match was played at one of those two grounds, 22 at each, and the IU v PZ game on 31 March was abandoned without a ball bowled.

New Teams and the First PSL Player Auction

PSL 2026 grew from six teams to eight. The PCB named Hyderabad Kingsmen and Rawalpindiz as the new sides. Rawalpindiz came from the old Multan franchise, which Walee Technologies bought at auction on 9 February. The Multan Sultans name moved to the franchise first sold as Sialkot Stallionz, which was renamed on 3 March.

The league held its first player auction on 11 February in Lahore. Naseem Shah went to Rawalpindiz for PKR 8.65 crore, the top price of the auction.

PSL Champions by Season

Lahore Qalandars are the only side to win two seasons in a row, in 2022 and 2023. Peshawar’s 2026 title was their first since 2017.

Updated 26 September 2026. This PSL winner prediction page is now a closed record: PSL 2026 ended on 3 May with Peshawar Zalmi beating Hyderabad Kingsmen by 5 wickets in the final at Gaddafi Stadium for their second title. All odds shown on this page are historical and are no longer available to back. Betting involves risk. Please gamble responsibly. For more on betting legality in India, see our legal guide.