James Vince's unbeaten 93 guided his side to an impressive 5-wicket win
James Vince led Hampshire to their fifth consecutive appearance at finals day with a five-wicket victory in their NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final against Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge.
The Hampshire captain scored an undefeated 93 from 51 balls, with 11 fours and four sixes to reach the winning line with an over to spare.
Earlier, the home side had posted 197 for two having elected to bat first, with Riki Wessels, Samit Patel and Alex Hales all scoring half-centuries.
Wessels top-scored with 62 not out, while Patel was unbeaten on 53 and Hales blasted 51 at the top of the order. Matt Coles took both Nottinghamshire wickets to fall and finished with 2-36.
Some outstanding hitting from Notts' top order has seen them close on 197-2. Wessels unbeaten on 62*, Patel 53* #CricketHasLanded
— Nottinghamshire CCC (@TrentBridge) August 3, 2014
In pursuit of 198, Hampshire got off to a flying start with Vince taking four boundaries from the second over, bowled by Harry Gurney.
He was given a reprieve on 20, when Hales spilled a fierce drive at cover off Ajmal Shahzad's bowling.
Michael Carberry was stumped for 31 at the start of the eighth over as the bowler, Patel, became the first Notts player to take 100 wickets in the domestic T20 competition.
Vince reached his 50 with a six off Patel, with it coming in 31 deliveries including eight fours, but he then lost Glenn Maxwell and Jimmy Adams to consecutive deliveries from Shahzad.
Notts missed out on a further scalp as Patel badly misjudged a catch in the deep, deliberately grounding the ball, fearing he was going to topple over the ropes when he was in fact some way from the boundary.
The batsman, Sean Ervine, was on 11 at the time and provided the necessary support to Vince, although both he and Will Smith both perished to Luke Fletcher with the finishing line in sight.
Fletcher closed with figures of 2-26 but conceded the winning single to Coles.
Ten mins ago @hantscricket were in trouble, now they're in control. Ervine scorches two more to the rope. This is incredible. HAM 157-3 (15)
— NatWest T20 Blast (@NatWestT20Blast) August 3, 2014
Michael Lumb made 22 from 11 deliveries at the start of the Notts innings before muscling Coles out to deep midwicket.
A streaky inside-edge got Wessels' innings under way but he then levered Kyle Abbott high over the leg side for his first maximum.
Hales twice put Danny Briggs over the ropes to reach his 50 from 39 balls, with four fours and two sixes, but then also fell to a catch in the deep.
Wessels and Patel kept up the momentum, going on to add 79 in just seven overs together.
Although both passed 50, the total only looked around par on a good surface and was eventually chased down in 19 overs by the visitors.
It was the fourth quarter-final in a row that Notts had lost at home but Hampshire go through to Finals Day, where they will face Lancashire.
What an outstanding performance from @vincey14 - unbeaten on 93! @NatWestT20Blast Finals Day here we come!
— Hampshire Cricket (@hantscricket) August 3, 2014
Hampshire batsman Vince said: "We didn't bowl as well as we could but they batted pretty well and it was the same in our innings.
"I'm pleased to get some runs. Apart from a couple of fifties at the start of the tournament I've had a pretty lean time of things but it all came good today, after Halesy (Alex Hales) put me down early on"
"It's always tough chasing a score like that and you've got to be up with the rate from the off but it's brilliant to get over the line and get to Finals Day again."
Nottinghamshire's England international Patel admitted the defeat had been "a bitter pill to swallow".
"We're absolutely devastated to have lost that," he said. "We thought we'd put a pretty good score on the board but just didn't execute our skills properly with the ball.
"I'd always rather get nought and the team win. It doesn't matter what I do if we lose.
"This is a bitter pill for us to swallow but we've got tome tough characters in that dressing room.
"We are in good positions in the other two competitions and will bounce back."
Notts Outlaws posted an imposing 197 for two in the first innings.