HAMPSHIRE captain James Vince is hoping to play “second fiddle” to Shahid Afridi again at T20 Finals Day.

Vince played arguably his best T20 innings when Hampshire beat Nottinghamshire Outlaws in their 2014 quarter final.

His unbeaten 93 ensured Hampshire chased down 197 to win their second last-eight tie in three years at Trent Bridge.

But Vince’s decision to drop to three for the first time this season means Afridi will be the immediate concern for a Notts attack including Stuart Broad as the tournament favourites aim for their first T20 win against Hampshire.

Afridi will be aiming to produce similar fireworks to the 42-ball century he made in last week’s quarter-final at Derby, alongside rookie Calvin Dickinson.

The Pakistan legend will be playing his first semi-final for Hampshire since his 42-ball 80 against Somerset in 2011.

Afridi goes into it with 181 runs from 85 balls in knockout matches for Hampshire.

He has made 270 runs at 45 for Hampshire as an opener – at a strike rate of 180 - compared with his modest overall record of 536 at 17.86 Having made 169 runs at 33.8 at the top of the order in his first season with the county, it is surprising that Hampshire waited until their quarter-final to unleash Afridi first up.

“We mentioned it briefly, he’d struggled at the bottom of the order so it was something we were thinking about doing with [off-spinner Wayne] Madsen having been opening the bowling for Derbyshire,” explained Vince.

“Then he mentioned it in practice the day before and that made our minds up.

“He’s done it a bit in the past and we felt it gave us a free hit up front against the spin, which surprised them.

“Once the spin was out the way they had a bit of pace in their attack - but he whacked everyone.

“When he was going like that I just wanted to get him on strike and not waste any balls.

“People will come at him with slightly different plans but we’ll be hoping for something similar at Edgbaston. I’ll be happy to play second fiddle again!

“Even if he’s in for a few overs and gets us off to a decent start during the powerplay it’s a bonus.

“If he does get out early we’re basically back to how we’ve been playing for the rest of the competition.”

Hampshire (from): Afridi, Dickinson, Vince (c), Bailey, Carberry, Dawson, Berg, Alsop, Abbott, Wood, Crane, Wheal, Adams, Ervine.