James Vince outguns Dawid Malan as Middlesex stutter in quarter-final pursuit

KISHAN VAGHELA AT LORD'S: As one England hopeful failed to demonstrate his credentials and add weight to the strong tournament he has been having, his opposite number imbued calmness with placement

Lord's: Middlesex 128, Hampshire 131-3 - Hampshire win by seven wickets

Scorecard

When Mohammed Hafeez was quizzed on social media about any potential retirement plans by a rather overzealous supporter, his riposte was as much abrasive as it was determined.

That retort read: 'my career, meri marzi'. Translated: my career, my way. 

While the Pakistani allrounder was making his debut for Middlesex, his captain for the evening certainly has not fallen into the category of those who have received the fortune of such a mantra. 

Dawid Malan may not have had it all his own way throughout his career. Had things panned out a little differently, the Middlesex skipper could have been facing the swinging red-ball at Headingley, not hammering the white leather to all parts in the majority of games as the third-highest scorer in the tournament. 

He would have believed his international career would have taken off after an Ashes century in Perth, yet his path has been rigorously blocked one way or the other. 

Malan's county side haven't had the rub of the green in the County Championship much either, but the aura of the Blast brings out best of this side because it is that little bit different. Pour changer d'air the French call it, and six wins in the Blast as opposed to half that in red-ball cricket would appear to confirm that. 

Just not on this occasion. 

^{Mohammed Hafeez was making his Middlesex debut}

Kyle Abbott certainly had that air knocked out of him as Paul Stirling bundled into him accidentally, and rather comically, after being dismissed, but it was Hampshire who had the wind in their sails despite the South African's little incident with the Irishman.

Whether Hampshire's new signing Tabraiz Shamsi's international career path has opened up with the retirement of Imran Tahir remains up in the air, but you would have been forgiven for thinking that it was the exuberant 40-year-old who was out there by the way the left-arm spinner appealed in an ebullient manner from his very first ball to try and dismiss Stevie Eskinazi.

Shamsi demonstrated the verve of youth when he eventually snared the 25-year-old Middlesex batsman a few balls later with a celebration of showmanship akin to those you see on a football field, and when Morgan went for one big hit too many and was caught off Liam Dawson, Middlesex's chances stumbled and eventually petered out.

Hafeez himself, despite his bullish comment yesterday, was unable to forge his own path. His elegance was always apparent, but it is the very same deftness that proved to be his undoing, before Abbott and compatriot Chris Morris came in to mop up the rest for a total of just 128.

This wasn't the calm that Malan and AB de Villiers, who is due to return for the final two group games, had demonstrated at certain points during the tournament. This was reminiscent of pushing the red button, and at an alarming rate, as they lost their last five wickets for just a single run.

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But bowling had never been Hampshire's weaker suit in this form of the game. Just head back to last year when Ashton Agar and Steven Finn took three wickets each as Middlesex staged an astonishing comeback to beat Hampshire who, chasing a modest target of 166, somehow contrived to throw away their last nine wickets for just 54. 

And there would be no Aneurin Donald, who was a lone soldier for the One-Day Cup finalists in Bristol against Gloucestershire, to get them off to a flyer after he suffered concussion against Surrey in the County Championship.

But as one England hopeful failed to demonstrate his credentials and add weight to the strong tournament he has been having, his opposite number imbued calmness with placement with his side chasing a meagre 129 for victory.

James Vince has a habit of making batting look easy, and at times it appeared the Middlesex bowlers were dumbfounded as to where to deliver the ball. 

The quicks went short and were pulled at will, while the spinners were swept and swept well by Vince. The Lord's crowd has had plenty to cheer this summer, but this was the most eerily quiet atmospheres to have set in in north-west London this year.

His innings was a stark reminder that Hampshire dug deep to reach the One-Day Cup final, and they were prepared to demonstrate those same resolute qualities to qualify for the knockout stages of the T20 Blast.

^{James Vince's half-century steered Hampshire to victory}

The recently released documentary The Edge demonstrated that there is a finite amount to which a player can dig, as Steve Finn found out, but even he as the tournament's joint-highest wicket taker was unable to contain the flow of runs.

Dancing down the pitch to banish efforts to the boundary around the ground or remaining rooted to the crease and swinging from the hips, Vince stood up in the metaphorical sense when Hampshire had required him to do so the most.

On a pitch where few players exhibited such finess, there was a clarity of thought to the way he went about his game. My innings, my way, he must have thought.

What is less clear is how damaging this defeat is for Middlesex, or in fact how rewarding the victory is for Hampshire, who are chasing the pack rather than sitting in the driving seat.

But Hampshire have opened the door slightly. Whose way it will go in the South Division however remains no way near as clear-cut as Hafeez's outburst last night.

Our careers, but whose way?

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