‘It’s nice to be at home’ – another Vince half-century helps Hampshire keep T20 Blast dream alive

The skipper topped the qualifying group stage run charts as the Hawks finished second in the South table.

A ninth win in 14 matches against Gloucestershire on Sunday at The Ageas Bowl ensured Hampshire runners-up spot behind Somerset.

As a result, they have been handed a home Ageas Bowl quarter-final against Worcestershire this coming Friday - the stadium’s first home KO tie since 2013.

In order to finish second, Hawks needed Essex to win at Surrey - and they did just that thanks to Feroze Khushi hitting a six off the last ball.

Chasing 196 for victory, Essex required eight from the final over but five singles put the pressure on Khusi , who responded by hoisting the ball to long on where Chris Jordan could not prevent it dropping over the rope.

Had Surrey won, Hawks would have been away in the quarter-final.

‘It is an unexpected home quarter-final but we are playing good cricket at the minute,’ said Vince.

‘We know Worcestershire are going to be tough but it is nice to be home.

‘It is a long time since we have played them. Worcestershire are one of those sides that go under the radar, as we did a few years ago.

‘We can’t take them lightly as they had to play good cricket to finish in the top four ahead of some decent sides.

‘Essex needing to win to give themselves a chance of qualification was a big plus for us.

‘Finishing a bit early meant we could watch the conclusion at the Oval and there were some happy faces in the dressing room.

‘It looked unlikely, so to find ourselves playing at home in front of our home crowd is big.

‘The home support has been tremendous this year, it has been the best I can remember week in week out.

‘It would be nice to see the same number of people getting behind us on Friday.’

Vince struck an unbeaten 55 in the Hawks’ final group win against Gloucestershire to take his seasonal Blast run tally to a stunning 638, at an average of 70.88.

The half-century against Gloucestershire was his seventh of the group stage, in addition to his 103 off 48 balls against Essex at Chelmsford.

There have only been six higher seasonal Blast run tallies since the tournament began in 2003.

Vince holds the top two - his 710 runs in 2015 and his 678 last summer.

Simple maths tells you that he needs 73 runs from a potential three innings to set a new record and take all top three slots in the all-time seasonal list.

Vince is aiming for his fourth Blast title, having previously won it in 2010, 2012 and last year. Indeed, Hampshire still have a chance of becoming the first county to retain the Blast silverware.

Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond is the second highest scorer in this year’s Blast, with 600 runs, while Derbyshire’s Wayne Madsen was third with 580.

In terms of wickets, Portsmouth-born John Turner and Aussie overseas signing Nathan Ellis topped the Hawks’ Blast list with 18 apiece.

It was a stunning achievement by Turner, who had never played a Blast game for the county prior to this year.

His 3-15 haul in Sunday’s rout of Gloucestershire - the visitors were dismissed for 105 - took his average to 11.11 per wicket (Ellis averages 19.55).

Worcestershire’s Pat Brown and Zack Chappelll of Derbyshire topped the 2023 group stage wicket-taking list with 24 apiece.

Hampshire’s nine group stage wins, meanwhile, saw them repeat their South group record from 12 months earlier.

That means the Hawks have won 21 and lost eight of their 27 Blast games since the start of last year’s competition.

Hampshire’s record for most group wins remains the 11 they achieved in 2011, from 16 games. They only lost twice with three abandonments.

Somerset this year became the first county to ever win 12 of their group games.