James Vince proved he could curb his ‘attacking instincts’ as he led an outstanding Hampshire rearguard in his last innings before the Ashes.

Vince’s 124-ball 30 and his second-wicket partnership of 41 in 30.3 overs with Liam Dawson, who made nine runs from 94 balls, laid the foundation for Hampshire’s latest Great Escape.

After helping Hampshire avoid defeat by making 195-7 in their final innings of the season, Vince said: “Our mindset was to bat normally and the runs would probably come before the end of the day but we lost those three quick wickets after lunch and they were bowling pretty well so Daws and I shut up shop.

“I was battling a few natural instincts out there but the way the game was set up it was pretty clear what we had to do.

“The delayed start helped us but then the guys were excellent.”

Gareth Berg and Ian Holland responded to Vince and Dawson’s dismissals by putting on 61 in 19 overs.  

“They got another sniff after tea but Bergy and Dutch saw it through really well,” continued Vince. 

“It was another narrow escape for us but it has been different this season, we have played some much better cricket.

“Unfortunately it came down to this last game in the position we were, but the lads showed a lot of fight and determination to get through it.”

Dawson said: “It’s a massive relief, we found a way when it mattered, we dug in and didn’t panic.

“We’ve lost clusters of wickets in the last few games which has been unacceptable but we didn’t do that today and that was massive for us.

“My batting has been very frustrating this year, I haven’t scored nearly enough but today my aim was just to bat 100 balls. I wasn’t bothered about runs 

“In the last few games we haven’t absorbed pressure as we should have done, but we made a conscious effort to do that. 

“Six balls seemed like a year, so to bat 85 overs was a massive achievement.”

After helping to relegate his former Middlesex teammates, Berg said: “In 2011 I helped them get in division one and today I played a part in pushing them into division two! Dutchy (Ian Holland) showed his class by being happy to take on Jeets  (Jeetan Patel), one of the best spinners around, while I took on the seamers.” 

Warwickshire first-team coach Jim Troughton said: "It was a good effort from our boys today.

"We knew that Hampshire were fighting for their lives and it was reminiscent of the last day of the 2011 season down in Southampton when we needed to get their last seven wickets to win the title. They managed to keep us out then and they did again today.

"We gave it everything because we wanted to win the game. We are down but it always nice to win a game of four-day cricket and it was nice to be in a position on the fourth day where you can set attacking field and push for a win.

"It is something we have not done a hell of a lot this year. But credit to Hampshire they stuck it out."