The finalists

The first-class President's Trophy 2026-27 final will be played between State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Markhor IT Solutions (MITS) at the SBP ground in Karachi, over five days starting on 25 October 2026. The two sides were confirmed as finalists after the seventh and final round of the round-robin group stage.

SBP finished as table-toppers with 107 points, the only team to pass 100. They won two matches — in the third and fourth rounds against Ghani and Oil and Gas Development Corporation Limited (OGDCL) — and drew the other five, going through the entire group stage unbeaten.

Markhor's remarkable first season

For MITS, reaching the final is already a story in itself. Appearing in the first-class President's Trophy for the first time, they finished second with 96 points from two wins in seven matches. They were winless in their first four games and barely in contention at the halfway stage.

Their fortunes changed in the fifth round, when they beat OGDCL by 75 runs. A draw against SBP followed in round six, and they sealed their place in the final with a six-wicket win over Pakistan Television (PTV) in the last round. MITS had earned promotion to the top tier in July, after being declared winners of the grade-II competition on first-innings lead over Kingsmen.

The final is also the first first-class fixture of the season in Karachi: every earlier match in the competition was held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, according to CricTracker. That gives Karachi's domestic cricket fans a rare chance to watch the season's decider at home, with the unbeaten favourites against the newcomers who have already beaten the odds once.

Sources: ESPN Cricinfo, 23 October 2026; CricTracker, President's Trophy 2026-27 final preview.