NEW DELHI: Teen pacer Ali Raza created Pakistan Super League (PSL) history by becoming the youngest player from Pakistan to take a hat-trick. The 18-year-old reached the milestone during Peshawar Zalmi’s match of 32 against Karachi Kings at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.Raz’s sensational spell marked the first hat-trick of the season and also the first ever by a Peshawar Zalmi bowler in PSL history.
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Venugopal Rao explains where Delhi Capitals lost the game when they were chasing a big numberThe youngster showed remarkable composure under pressure and tore through Karachi’s lower order to finish with impressive figures of 4 for 41. His efforts proved crucial in restricting Karachi to 182/9, despite a fighting 85 from Jason Roy.The landmark effort added Raz’s name to the elite list of PSL hat-tricks since the tournament’s inception in 2016. The list started with Mohammad Amir scoring the league’s first hat-trick for Karachi Kings. Since then, players like Junaid Khan, Imran Tahir, the only spinner on the list, and Mohammad Sami have produced memorable spells.More recent editions have seen Abbas Afridi and Akeal Hosein’s match-defining efforts, but Raz’s feat stands out for its sheer precociousness. At just 18, he set a new benchmark for young bowlers in the competition.Interestingly, this is not the first time Karachi Kings have been on the receiving end this season. Earlier in PSL 2026, they suffered a record defeat of 159 runs, the biggest margin in the history of the league, further highlighting their problems.Raza’s breakthrough performance not only underlines his immense potential but also gives Peshawar Zalmi a big boost as the tournament heads into its crucial phase.
