James Vince and Ben McDermott captured a new club record as Hampshire Hawks beat Sussex Sharks by 22 runs to their First victory in this season’s Vitality Blast.
Hampshire had lost their first four matches but have moved off the bottom of the South Group with their win over Sussex
Vince and McDermott, who smashed 65 and 60 respectively, put on 124 together to break Hawks’ best T20 opening stand and set up a mammoth total of 199 for 6.
Tim Seifert hit a sublime 100 not out and put on 69 with Delray Rawlins – in an otherwise poor chase from the Sharks as they never controlled the required rate.
Vince showcased this by beautifully caressing the first ball of the match through the covers, having been put in.
It was just one of a range of classic Vince stroke plays which gave the hosts a rocket of a start.
At the other end, McDermott got off the mark with a huge straight six with his more brutal style.
That was the first of five maximums from the Australian, with a scoop the outlier from straight and mid-wicket power.
Vince – who moved up the order having batted at No 3 previously in the Blast this season – reached his first half-century of the season with his 33rd delivery, before McDermott followed him four balls quicker.
That started Sussex’s middle-order fightback as Hampshire lost four wickets for 23 runs.
The visitors’ brilliant catching was a key reason for the momentum shift; a boundary juggle from Fynn Hudson-Prentice and Obed McCoy’s spectacular flying catch made up for some otherwise below-par ground fielding.
Sussex’s chase never got going. The Hawks were patient before they made their breakthrough in the fourth over when Luke Wright spliced to mid-on before Ali Orr skied to wicketkeeper McDermott in the following over.
Hudson-Prentice laboured to eight from 14 balls before he top-edged James Fuller.
As a point of comparison, Hampshire were 98-0 at the 10-over stage, the Sharks were 59-3 and statistically given a one per cent chance of winning.
Ravi Bopara holed out but Seifert and Rawlins had fun with their 50-stand coming in 24 balls, with New Zealand international Seifert plundering a personal half-century in 36 deliveries.
Rawlins was run out and Harrison Ward castled either side of a short rain delay.
With the game already lost, Seifert plundered three straight sixes in the final over to collect his second T20 century off 56 balls.
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Highlights of the Hampshire vs Sussex match,