| LV= County Championship Division One, Ageas Bowl (day one) |
| Hampshire 331-6: Vince 95, Dawson 56*; Sales 2-32 |
| Northamptonshire: Yet to bat |
| Hampshire 2 pts, Northamptonshire 2 pts |
| Match scorecard |
Hampshire captain James Vince was finally dismissed at the Ageas Bowl after dominating Northamptonshire with an expert 95 in the County Championship.
Vince had clocked up 232 runs in 514 minutes since he last lost his wicket on his home ground, while he has now passed fifty in four of his past five Championship innings.
The ex-England batter, who had dominated Northamptonshire with 186 at Wantage Road last month, mixed grit with his typically stylish stroke play to help his side to 331-6 at close.
Around Vince, Fletcha Middleton impressed with 40 and Ben Brown added 44 before Liam Dawson chalked up 56 not out.
With the ball, James Sales was the pick with 2-32, while Jack White claimed 2-65.
Northamptonshire will be sick of the sight of Vince after his mammoth knock in an innings victory at Wantage Road.
That bile would have swelled in their mouths after he won the toss and chose to bat, with all conditions assisting run-making.
Vince was the least of Northamptonshire’s worries in the first half an hour as Middleton and Joe Weatherley enjoyed an explosive start against an attack lacking the injured Ben Sanderson.
The pair scored 12 in the first over and were up to 22 after the second as the first 31 minutes saw the half-century stand arrive in only 46 balls.
But Jordan Buckingham brilliantly angled in and seamed away to bowl Weatherley to halt the momentum.
Northamptonshire had by no means disgraced themselves in that onslaught but slightly tighter lines and a slightly softer ball stemmed the runs and built pressure.
The remaining 90 minutes of the session saw just 45 more runs, with Middleton playing across the line to be bowled by Sales and the bogged-down Nick Gubbins leg-before to White.
Vince had arrived and was joined by Brown, with the experienced duo refusing to allow a collapse similar to that which turned their last home fixture with Warwickshire into a catastrophe.
Vince was patient, especially against the nagging accuracy of Sales and Tom Taylor, but still had time to play his trademark shots – his 50 in 100 balls came with a cover drive.
Brown was equally sedate in the 106-run stand, although earned a life when he was dropped at second slip before he was eventually bowled chopping on Sales.
Dawson joined Vince and they added 75. But hopes of a 29th first-class century were thwarted in the over before the second new ball as an innocuous Vince forward defence to Rob Keogh was tickled behind.
Ian Holland followed when he was lbw to White with the new cherry. Dawson continued from his 84 against Kent last week to bring up his fifty in 79 balls, during an unbeaten 50-run alliance with Keith Barker.
On first-class debut, leg-spinner Alex Russell, 21, showed high promise with a number of challenging deliveries despite going wicketless.
Report supplied by ECB Reporters’ Network.