IT is arguably Hampshire’s most dynamic opening partnership since Barry Richards and Gordon Greenidge.

Since opening together for the first time at the beginning of Hampshire’s successful Clydesdale Bank40 campaign of last season, Michael Carberry and James Vince have developed into the most feared opening limited-overs partnership in the country.

They are one reason why Hampshire are favourites to win a third Friends Life t20 title in four years at Edgbaston, having not looked back since putting on 142 against Glamorgan when they first opened together, at the beginning of Hampshire’s 40-over success of last season.

Used for the first time in t20 competition at the Champions League in October, the partnership has gone from strength to strength in both limited-overs competitions this year.

They began Hampshire’s YB40 defence with their best partnership to date, a 102-ball 156 at Essex, and, after several high-octane t20 starts, they shared their first century stand in the shortest format last week, a ten-over 110 in the quarter-final thriller against Lancashire.

What is most impressive about the right-handed, left-handed combo is that they have scored their runs with shots that would not look out of place in the MCC coaching manual.

Carberry: “We swapped things around when Jimmy Adams felt he wasn’t getting the weight of runs he would have liked after his record-breaking year.

“Vinny and I have gone really well for the last year and a half and I think our styles complement each other nicely.

“We’re both aggressive players and we’re pretty clear what’s required when we go out there.”

Carberry and Vince have a synergy when they are operating in tandem and an understanding bordering on telepathy. “That’s come over time, the longer you bat with someone you sort of know where they’re looking to get their runs and similarly they know where you're looking to score as well,”

admits Carberry. “You build a rapport that way.”

Frighteningly for opposition bowlers, it is a partnership that has more to come.

“It’s going to be a good partnership for a good three or four years, I reckon,” says Hampshire’s outgoing t20 captain Dimi Mascarenhas. “Carbs is still improving, he’s our best player and still goes and hits the most balls every day in training, he works harder than anyone on his game and Vincey is only young so he’s getting better too. Hopefully they can pull it off again in the semi-final. That’s what they’re paid to do and what we want them to do.”

They have a long way to go to match the achievements of the fabled Richards and Greenidge, but the Vince and Carberry double act may one day be seen on the international stage, and could well be used by the England Lions as soon as next week, against Bangladesh A.

“Luke Wright’s also in that squad but it would be nice to see them open for the Lions together because that’s where they’ve been successful,” said Adams, who was the country’s leading t20 run scorer when he opened in 2010, the year Hampshire first won the tournament. They may have suffered a rare double failure against Surrey on Thursday night, but Hampshire’s YB40 captain reckons Vince and Carberry’s 98-run stand against Scotland in Glasgow on Tuesday was up there with their best yet.

“On paper that looked straightforward but it had banana skin potential on what was a tough wicket to bat on,”

continued Adams.

“I wasn’t expecting Vincey and Carbs to make such light work of it, even by their standards, so it was probably as good a partnership as they’ve had. Scotland might not have the kudos of some of the counties but to be as fluent as they were was very impressive.

“They’ve been brilliant all season, it’s a pleasure to watch them.”