Vince stars as Kings crush Gladiators by 56 runs in PSL blowout

James Vince led Karachi Kings to a dominant 56-run win over Quetta Gladiators in the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Friday, delivering a standout performance with the bat before the Kings’ bowlers sealed a one-sided contest.

Vince hit 70 off 47 balls to lift Karachi out of a tricky middle-overs slump, while veteran allrounder Mohammad Nabi tightened the screws with a miserly spell of 2 for 7 in four overs.

The Kings had opted to bat and raced to 50 inside five overs, thanks to a quick start by David Warner and Tim Seifert. Seifert smashed back-to-back boundaries off debutant legspinner Ali Majid to bring up the fifty.

However, the momentum stalled before the end of the powerplay. Abrar Ahmed dismissed Warner, and Saud Shakeel bowled Seifert soon after. Quetta applied pressure during the middle overs, restricting Karachi to just 18 runs in four overs.

At 108 for 4 in the 14th over, the Kings looked in trouble. But Vince, batting fluently, attacked the struggling Faheem Ashraf and combined with Nabi to hammer 67 runs in the final six overs, guiding the Kings to a competitive 175 for 7.

In reply, the Gladiators’ chase fell apart early. Mir Hamza struck in the second over, dismissing Finn Allen with a slower ball. Hasan Nawaz soon followed, caught at slip by Khushdil Shah.

Quetta never recovered. Kusal Mendis showed brief resistance, but Nabi ended his innings with a sharp delivery in his first over. Rilee Rossouw tried to counterattack but perished trying to clear the boundary off Nabi, who wrapped up his spell with Quetta reeling at 53 for 6 at the halfway point.

The Gladiators managed only 119 for 9 in their 20 overs. Hasan Ali took 3 for 27, while Hamza and Nabi kept the scoring tight.

Vince was named Player of the Match for his composed knock that held the innings together and set up the win.

With the result, Karachi Kings bounced back strongly and dealt another blow to the struggling Gladiators in what has been a disappointing campaign for them.