There were too few Graham Napier fireworks for another capacity Chelmsford crowd this time - just two huge sixes in an eight-ball 18 and the vital early wicket of Michael Lumb - but 6,000 Essex supporters still skipped home happy.

Hampshire's failure to chase down a stop-start Essex total of 159, allied to Kent's win at Hove, meant that they go out of the Twenty20 Cup. Napier and Essex, however, now have a home quarter-final after triumphing in what, in effect, became a knockout contest.

Three nights after his astounding 152 not out from 58 balls against Sussex on the same ground - and those barely believable 16 sixes - Napier was the man everyone wanted to see last night. He had recalled in a fascinating blow-by-blow account the innings in the club's excellent match programme that merely added to the expectation.

Kept waiting until the ninth over by an opening stand of 60, of which Mark Pettini made an excellent 49 from 34 balls with three sixes and four fours, Napier entered the arena to a gladiatorial welcome.

After swinging the off spin of Greg Lamb over mid-wicket, he then picked up Dimitri Mascarenhas for an even bigger six high over the crowd's heads at long-on. Mascarenhas, however, then came up with a cleverly disguised slower ball and Napier's mighty swish of the bat fatally failed to connect.

James Foster offered some further fine strokes, including an over-the-shoulder four to fine leg off Mascarenhas, but the rest of the Essex innings was a somewhat curious affair given that Pettini and Napier had set up the base for an expected stronger late assault at 84 for two in the eleventh over.

Ryan ten Doeschate did thump a four and a six from the five balls he faced before holing out, but the Essex middle order could not assert themselves and, in the end, they did not even see out their 20 overs as Chris Tremlett, bowling fast and full, wrapped up the innings with four wickets for four runs in eight balls.

This may have been the same pitch as the one on which Napier produced his pyrotechnics on Tuesday evening, but its extra wear and tear seemed to give a touch more assistance to both seam and spin and any Essex fears that they had underachieved were soon allayed.

Napier's successful leg-before shout against the dangerous Lumb brought one of the biggest cheers, but David Masters's new-ball spell was perhaps the most telling thrust of all, as he first hit the top of Michael Carberry's off stump and then persuaded Ian Harvey to chip to wide mid-wicket.

Poor light early in the Hampshire reply also did not help their cause, although the umpires ordered the floodlights to be turned on and held up play for five minutes until it was done with the visiting team on 12 for one in the fourth over.

Maurice Chambers, the 20-year-old fast bowler, contributed a tidy spell and three fine catches and Danish Kaneria, Essex's Pakistan leg spinner and trump card, was once again hard to read and harder to hit.

Essex
*M L Pettini c Lamb b Mascarenhas 49
J E R Gallian c Carberry b Mascarenhas 13
G R Napier b Mascarenhas 18
J S Foster c Lumb b Hayward 20
R N ten Doeschate c Hayward b Lamb 10
G W Flower c Hayward b Tremlett 14
N J Dexter b Tremlett 9
J D Middlebrook not out 11
D D Masters run out 1
Danish Kaneria b Tremlett 0
M A Chambers b Tremlett 1
Extras (b 4, lb 4, w 3, nb 2) 13
Total (19.4 overs) 159

Fall of wickets: 1-60, 2-73, 3-84, 4-96, 5-129, 6-143, 7-145, 8-153, 9-157.

Bowling: Taylor 4-0-27-0; Hayward 3-0-25-1; Harvey 2-0-11-0; Tremlett 3.4-0-25-4; Mascarenhas 4-0-36-3; Lamb 3-0-27-1.

Hampshire
I J Harvey c Chambers b Masters 17
M J Lumb lbw b Napier 5
M A Carberry b Masters 7
M J Brown c Gallian b Kaneria 13
S M Ervine c Pettini b Chambers 15
A D Mascarenhas c Masters b Danish Kaneria 9
*<SC134>N Pothas b Ten Doeschate 17
G A Lamb run out 4
C T Tremlett c Chambers b Kaneria 8
M Hayward c Chambers b Kaneria 5
B V Taylor not out 0
Extras (w 5) 5
Total (17.3 overs) 105

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-22, 3-38, 4-61, 5-65, 6-88, 7-90, 8-93, 9-101.

Bowling: Masters 4-0-25-2; Napier 3-1-14-1; Chambers 4-0-18-1; Ten Doeschate 3-0-26-1; Danish Kaneria 3.3-0-22-4.

Umpires: G I Burgess and N A Mallender.