James Vince and Quinton de Kock hit half-centuries as Southern Brave douse Welsh Fire at The Ageas Bowl to go top of their Hundred table

Chasing 145 for victory after the Fire chalked u p a competitive score of 144-5 last night, Hampshire skipper combined elegance with big-hitting as he hit 5 3 from 39 balls on his home Ageas Bowl ground to ensure his side look well set for a place in the final on August 21.

De Kock, fresh from his match-winning 72 against the Northern Superchargers on Saturday, scored 57 not out as he and Alex Davies wrapped up the victory with 13 balls to spare, writes IAIN McCULLOUGH.

Ireland batsman Paul Stirling got the Brave off to a strong start, smashing three fours and a six in his seven-ball knock before he found the hands of Glenn Philliips off Luke Fletcher.

Stirling's exit brought Vince to the crease and he and de Kock put on 86 for the second wicket with skipper bringing up his 50 from 37 balls before he was caught by Ian Cockbain off Qais Ahmad.

De Kock would have been out for 18 had Fire opted to review a lbw shout against the South African when Ahmad trapped him on the front pad. And that decision proved to be pivotal as he guided the home side to victory, smashing five fours and two sixes.

Vince won the toss and elected to field on a hybrid surface at The Ageas Bowl.

The visitors began well with 11 runs scored off the first five balls from George Garton with Glamorgan's David Lloyd belting the final ball of the opening set of five balls for six.

That early onslaught prompted Vince to immediately turn to the off-spin of his former county colleague Danny Briggs and he was vindicated when Lloyd found the skipper's hands at short cover.

Dangerman Tom Banton looked in great touch for the Fire, smashing 36 from 20 balls including huge successive sixes off Garton.

But the Somerset star perished after chancing his arm once too often against Jake Lintott and was caught on the boundary rope by Alex Davies.

Lintott struck again just three deliveries later when Cockbain slapped the ball straight to Colin de Grandhomme - reducing his side to 70-3.

Vince persisted with spin, returning Briggs back into the attack, and he was rewarded when the Warwickshire tweaker beat Ben Duckett's defences immediately after being hit for four to.send the visiting skipper on his way for seven.

Struggling at 78-4, New Zealand big-hitter Philipps and Leus de Plooy took time to get themselves in before accelerating to a valuable 62-run stand off 20 balls.

But the final 10 balls of the innings were bowled superbly by Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan with just nine runs scored.

De Kock said: ‘It's nice to finally get the runs going.

‘I had two decent starts earlier in the tournament, but couldn't go on and that irritated me a little bit, so it is good to get the ball rolling and score some runs for the team.

‘It's not how you start a tournament it's how you finish and we have one more really important game to play which is key, and it would be great to close it out.

‘The tournament is different and it is a hard format, but I do enjoy it. It's not too much shorter than a T20 format and obviously there are different rules but the thinking on the game plans are much the same.

‘It's a great tournament and I am really enjoying being part of it.’

Brave’s final group game is against the Oval Invincibles at The Ageas Bowl next Monday.