JAMES Vince was a fresh-faced 21 year-old when he played in his first, and so far only, Lord’s final in the double-winning season of 2012.

But Hampshire’s captain will return at the peak of his powers a week on Saturday after leading from the front with a magnificent 171 as his side secured a comprehensive 107-run win against Yorkshire at The Ageas Bowl.

Vince faced only 126 balls, stroking 20 fours and three sixes on his way to the county’s fifth-highest individual one-day score as Hampshire made 348-9 - before bowling Yorkshire out for 241.

Yorkshire were without their quintet of England stars but Vince will surely rejoin Joe Root and company in the national team if he continues to bat like he did yesterday.

After Vince’s masterclass, Liam Dawson took 4-47 to secure Hampshire’s place in the Royal London One-Day Cup final against Kent on June 30.

Vince showed it was a good toss to lose by laying the foundation for Hampshire’s fourth-highest 50-over total.

He was eventually caught at long-on at the end of the 46th over, just seven short of the club-record 178 he made in the same competition against Glamorgan last year.

Jimmy Adams, back in the side for the hamstrung Tom Alsop, was caught at slip midway through the opening powerplay after some extra bounce from Ben Coad.

But after Rilee Rossouw top edged a pull to mid-wicket, following a 36-ball 32, Vince and Sam Northeast embarked on a fourth-wicket stand of 142 in 21 overs.

Vince was on top of his game against the county who have now been on the receiving end of five of his hundreds in all cricket.

He provided wonderful entertainment by unfurling majestic strokes to all corners of the ground after Yorkshire decided to field first in glorious sunshine.

Vince was particularly strong off the back foot and the first of his three sixes, a hook against Tim Bresnan, the only survivor from the counties’ Rose Bowl semi-final in 2005 brought up Hampshire’s hundred in style.

He reached his hundred from only 83 balls by pulling Matt Fisher for one of his boundaries and got to 150 from only 111 deliveries by thumping the same bowler for a straight maximum against the pavilion sightscreen.

Vince’s other six, over Tom Kohler-Cadmore at long-on, was sandwiched by leg-side fours, pulled and swept against the slow left-arm of Karl Carver, who was shown no mercy.

In his first game for more than six weeks, knowing his former Kent teammates await in the final, Northeast provided the perfect foil to Vince’s swordsmanship on his limited-overs debut for Hampshire.

Northeast brought up Hampshire’s 200 by pulling Yorkshire captain Steve Patterson for six and soon brought up a 51-ball fifty, which included three of his four fours.

With Vince and Northeast on song, Hampshire were 244-3 with 14 overs left, at which point their highest 50-over score (a Glenn Maxwell-inspired 360-9 against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 2014) looked there for the taking.

But their momentum was checked by the loss of six wickets and in the end they fell short of the ground-record 356 they made in a losing cause against Somerset in their last group game.

Northeast (58) skied Bresnan to mid-off, Joe Weatherley (3) chopped on and Liam Dawson (17) top edged a pull to mid-on.

Vince was finally out with four overs left, caught by Kohler-Cadmore as he attempted a fourth maximum, this time against Adam Lyth.

Lewis McManus pulled Bresnan for six on his way to a 22-ball 25 before was caught at deep cover as

But after Dale Steyn was run out off the penultimate ball, last-man Reece Topley ended the innings by pulling Bresnan for  six over wide long-on.

Despite Jonathan Tattersall’s career-best 89, Yorkshire never looked like matching Hampshire’s total.

Hampshire tightened their grip on the game during excellent opening spells from Steyn (5-0-17-1) and Chris Wood (4-0-17-1).

Wood soon trapped Lyth on his crease and extra pace and bounce in the next over from Steyn did for Che Pujara.

The Indian Test star nicked Steyn’s quickest delivery of the day, clocked at 87mph, and it was snaffled by Adams at first slip, where the veteran dived across from second.

Gary Ballance made a run-a-ball 25 before pulling to Berg, who caught a stunner when Kohler-Cadmore cut Dawson powerfully to backward point.

Diving low to his left, Berg held on two-handed. It was a catch reminiscent of John Crawley’s blinder in the 2007 Rose Bowl semi-final against Warwickshire, when Steyn was on the losing side.

Jack Leaning was beaten all ends up by Dawson after a stand of fifty with Tattersall, who shared another fifty partnership with Tim Bresnan before the England all-rounder had his middle stump uprooted by Wood.

Tattersall was eventually caught in the covers after a leading edge against a Topley slower ball before Dawson took two wickets in an over.
Fittingly, Vince took the catch that secured as comfortable a victory as Hampshire could have wished for.

Yorkshire director of cricket Martyn Moxon was fulsome in his praise of the Hampshire captain, who his side face in a day night County Championship match at the Ageas Bowl from Wednesday (2pm start).

Moxon said: “I thought we fought really hard but we came up against James Vince, a serious talent who played magnificently."
 

HAMPSHIRE INNINGS
J Adams c Kohler-Cadmore b Coad 16
RR Rossouw c Pujara b Bresnan 32
J Vince c Kohler-Cadmore b Lyth 171
S Northeast c Patterson b Bresnan 58
JJ Weatherley b Coad 3
LA Dawson c Lyth b Fisher 17
L McManus c Leaning b Patterson 25
GK Berg not out 6
CP Wood b Patterson 2
DW Steyn run out (†Tattersall) 6
RJW Topley not out 6
Extras 6 (lb 2, nb 2, w 2)
TOTAL 348/9 
Fall of wickets: 1-30 (JHK Adams, 5.4 ov), 2-76 (RR Rossouw, 12.5 ov), 3-218 (SA Northeast, 33.3 ov), 4-244 (JJ Weatherley, 36.1 ov), 5-292 (LA Dawson, 42.2 ov), 6-313 (JM Vince, 45.6 ov), 7-333 (LD McManus, 48.2 ov), 8-336 (CP Wood, 48.5 ov), 9-342 (DW Steyn, 49.5 ov)
BOWLING: Fisher 10-0-70-1, Coad 9-0-48-2, Bresnan 10-0-71-2, Patterson 10-0-56-2, Carver    6-0-66-0, Lyth 5-0-35-1.
    
YORKSHIRE INNINGS

A Lyth lbw b Wood 11
Kohler-Cadmore c Berg b Dawson 21
CA Pujara c Adams b Steyn 0
GS Ballance c Northeast b Berg 25
JA Tattersall † c Berg b Topley 89
JA Leaning b Dawson 23
TT Bresnan b Wood 26
MD Fisher lbw b Dawson 25
S Patterson c McManus b Dawson 0
BO Coad c Vince b Wood 9
K Carver not out 3
Extras 9 (lb 2, nb 2, w 5)
TOTAL 241 all out (43.4 Overs)
Fall of wickets: 1-14 (A Lyth, 3.4 ov), 2-15 (CA Pujara, 4.4 ov), 3-47 (GS Ballance, 11.4 ov), 4-73 (T Kohler-Cadmore, 15.5 ov), 5-123 (JA Leaning, 25.6 ov), 6-173 (TT Bresnan, 33.6 ov), 7-223 (JA Tattersall, 40.3 ov), 8-227 (SA Patterson, 41.3 ov), 9-230 (MD Fisher, 41.6 ov), 10-241 (BO Coad, 43.4 ov)
BOWLING: Steyn 7-0-34-1, Wood 8.4-0-46-3, Berg 8-0-59-1, Topley 10-0-53-1, Dawson 10-0-47-4