James Vince fires warning as Hampshire overcome false start

Hampshire 172 for 2 (Vince 88*) beat Middlesex 171 (Malan 80) by eight wicketsJames Vince fired a warning to Hampshire Hawks' Vitality Blast rivals with an outstanding unbeaten 88 off 55 balls as the holders got their 2023 campaign off and running by thrashing Middlesex.Vince, the 2022 competition's leading run scorer, passed 5,000 T20 runs during his explosive innings, and is now 61 away from being the Blast's all-time leading run-getter. He put on 91 with Australian Ben McDermott as Hampshire put their opening-day embarrassment to Somerset behind them to win by eight wickets.Pieter Malan was excellent for his 80 but Middlesex slid away to only set the Hawks 172 - which was reached with 13 balls to spare.Friday had been declared Champions Day at the Ageas Bowl as Hampshire and Southern Vipers flaunted their Blast and Charlotte Edwards Cup trophies. Vipers began the day by dominating Western Storm.Hampshire had been routed for their lowest Blast total at Taunton on Wednesday, but instead of licking their wounds, they took it out on Middlesex.McDermott set the tone for the chase with an early scoop before almost wiping out the umpire with a straight drive in a three-boundary destruction of Tom Helm.Vince was no shrinking violet at the other end and forced McDermott to duck out of the way of his own swat down the ground as their 50 stand came up before the end of the powerplay.McDermott picked out wide long off when on 39 but Tom Prest continued the onslaught alongside his captain. Vince was at another level though, his half-century came and went in 28 deliveries, and he then skipped down the pitch to deposit his first six to go alongside his 10 fours.Prest wristily flicked his first soon after in a 17-ball 30 before ending too soon when he was bowled by Luke Hollman. Vince was caught at deep fine leg, but got a reprieve as Middlesex's poor evening got worse as they had too many fielders outside the ring. The victory came soon after.Middlesex were stuck in and looked on course for 200 thanks to Stevie Eskinazi's ea