Match Preview: Hampshire v Glamorgan - NatWest T20 Blast

Hampshire look to bounce back from disappointing losses to Sussex and Essex when they take on Glamorgan at the The Ageas Bowl on Friday.

James Vince’s side came up short against an experienced Essex side last Friday, thanks largely to a destructive maiden T20 century from Jesse Ryder. However Vince will be hopeful that a positive result on Friday will see Hampshire’s home quarter-final hopes back on track.

Hampshire Squad:

Hampshire make just one change to last week’s 13-man squad, with all-rounder Liam Dawson's loan move to Essex making him unavailable.

Seamer Jackson Bird is included in the squad once again and is the only player who did not feature in the previous two fixtures. 

The Opposition:

Former South African international Jacques Rudolph captains a Glamorgan side that has enjoyed relative success in the NatWest T20 Blast so far this season.

Glamorgan currently occupy fifth place in the competitive south division, just one spot behind Hampshire heading into Friday’s fixture.

Rudolph’s fellow countryman Colin Ingram has been a prominent part of the side’s campaign so far this season, with the right-hander the batsman to watch after hitting 96 to guide Glamorgan to victory in their last T20 fixture.

Did You Know?

• The toss-winning captain has elected to bowl first in the last four games played between Hampshire and Glamorgan.
• Danny Briggs has an excellent bowling average of just 11 in T20 fixtures against Glamorgan, at an economy rate of less than 6.5.
• Hampshire have had the highest run-scorer in each of the last three matches when Glamorgan have been the opposition.

What The Team Say:

Hampshire All-Rounder Chris Wood: 'Tomorrow is a massive game for us, sitting fourth at the minute it’s important for us in order to build towards getting a home quarter-final. To do that I’d say we definitely need to win three from the next five games in order to qualify but four from the next five at least would be nice if we stick to our plans and perform well.

'Whilst Glamorgan have been a little hit and miss so far this season, they’ve still played some very good cricket and it’s important to get that win against them because it potentially pushes one of our rivals for a quarter-final spot a little further back.

'Losing two back-to-back games was obviously disappointing but back in front of hopefully a big home crowd, we can pick up two valuable points. Obviously I had some success against Glamorgan earlier in the campaign too and I’ve always tended to do fairly well against them so I’m hoping that I can keep building on that heading into tomorrow.'

Hampshire Squad:

James Vince (c), Michael Carberry, Joe Gatting, Owais Shah, Jimmy Adams, Adam Wheater (wk), Will Smith, Chris Wood, Yasir Arafat, Danny Briggs, Gareth Berg, Jackson Bird.

Coverage:

Live text commentary will be available via the Hampshire Cricket Twitter and Facebook pages. A feed to these will also be available on this page.

There will be ball-by-ball commentary available on BBC Radio Solent online at bbc.co.uk.

Additional Information:

The match is Hampshire’s Ladies Day at the The Ageas Bowl, which will see the The Ageas Bowl turn pink to raise money and increase awareness for a new breast cancer support centre in Hampshire due to open in October 2015.

More information on Ladies Day can be found here: http://goo.gl/5GK6lr

Match-day programmes can be purchased on the day for £3 (including a free scorecard). Scorecards are also available to purchase individually for just 50p.

Weather Forecast:

Please click here to view the latest weather forecast for the The Ageas Bowl.

If you are unsure on the latest situation with the weather at the ground, you can call our Match Day Information Line on 023 8047 5662.