Report & Reaction: Hampshire Hawks Men v Sussex Sharks, Vitality Blast

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James Vince hit the turbo button to smoke 98 not out to beat Sussex Sharks and put Hampshire Hawks on course for the Men’s Vitality Blast quarter-finals.

Captain Vince led from the front for a magnificent 98 in 49 balls to chase down 168 and secure a third straight Hawks victory – and only failed to reach figures by hitting the winning runs with a four rather than a six.

James Fuller supported with three wickets before Joe Weatherley partnered up for 62 – and 43 himself – as Hampshire found form at the right time of the competition.

They now have seven wins in the tournament – the traditional benchmark for qualification – while Sussex have stalled. They have lost their last three matches.

Vince has blown hot and cold in the Blast, with three half-centuries but plenty of single-figure scores. This was a boiling day for him.

The second ball he faced flew over the square ropes, with two more joining it to go with 12 other boundaries – it was vintage Vince, punishing anything that wasn’t an A-class delivery.

A record 12-ball half-century looked temporarily on before settling for 19 balls, and from there he found a rhythm to tick off the runs quickly and risk-free.

Toby Albert put 54 on with him at the top before frustrating himself with a pull to midwicket and Danny Lamb snuck one past Tom Prest.

But in-form Weatherley provided the firmest support, while also plundering a quartet of sixes to make sure there was no pressure on the chase and Vince.

He fell for 43, and Hilton Cartwright followed before Fuller helped Vince to get over the line.

Sussex’s innings came in three acts. The cagey start, the run-frenzied middle and then the run drought at the death.

Having chosen the bat, neither side could get an advantage in what felt like an ‘eight-pointer’ match due to their positions in the table and their closeness to qualifying.

The Sharks probably edged the powerplay with a six off the last ball taking them to 51 for one – with Daniel Hughes been and gone after cutting to cover.

That maximum sparked Tom Clark and George Thomas into life as they whacked 63 in the following six and a half overs.

Clark’s pair of sixes off Benny Howell was the apex of the innings, as the duo ran hard and piled the pressure onto the hosts.

But both departed in the 13th over with James Fuller dislodging each of them to spark a slow down – with only 60 runs coming from the last eight overs.

Scott Currie repeated Fuller’s trick by seeing off Tom Alsop and James Coles in the 16th over, before only conceding four runs in the 18th over.

Chris Wood also only went for four runs in the following over with two more wickets as Hampshire took control.

But the visitors snared 15 runs from the last to take them to 167 for seven. But it was far from enough as Hampshire won with 16 balls to spare.