2015 Season Review: Royal London One-Day Cup

Hampshire bounced-back from a difficult 2014 Royal London One-Day Cup campaign to reach the quarter-final stage of the competition in an impressive 2015 season.

There were a number of fantastic contributions from several players throughout, whilst a James Vince century and a five-wicket haul from Liam Dawson helped Hampshire secure an authoritative opening day win.

Two victories from their next three fixtures ensured an impressive start in Group B with Middlesex easily swept aside before being awarded the match against Glamorgan for a dangerous pitch at the SWALEC.              

Essex were the next side to visit the The Ageas Bowl and were one of only two sides to claim a 50-over win at Hampshire’s home ground in the season. Despite the loss, half centuries from the prolific Dawson and Will Smith saw them find some form and this continued as both men notched another knock of more than fifty apiece in the following rain-affected match against Warwickshire, securing an important victory at Edgbaston.

Another stand-out performance soon followed, this time from Adam Wheater who struck a magnificent century against a strong visiting Lancashire side. Although his side came up just short, anything but a loss in the final game against Nottinghamshire would still ensure qualification for the quarter-final stage.

The weather prevailed in the end at Trent Bridge with no result possible, but the point picked up from the match saw Hampshire finish third in the group and ultimately advance – becoming the only side to reach both limited-overs quarter-finals in the season.  

The knock-out fixture was also one to be influenced by rain however but when play finally began an excellent 97 from opening batsman Jimmy Adams guided Hampshire to a healthy 217 from their allotted 34 overs.

Ultimately it was not quite enough to keep Gloucestershire and their ever reliable skipper Michael Klinger at bay, as the home-side reached their target with an over to spare.

Although the tournament came to an unfortunate end at the quarter-final stage, Hampshire’s return to the 50-over knock-out stages in 2015 is undoubtedly a promising step forward looking ahead to 2016.

Adams topped the list of the club’s highest List A run-getters, scoring 361 runs at a brilliant average of 60.16 in just eight innings. All-rounder Liam Dawson took the most wickets during the campaign, claiming 15 scalps at an average of less than 23 to add to 324 runs at an average of over 64.