Match Preview: Sussex v Hampshire - NatWest T20 Blast

Hampshire will be hoping to secure a vital NatWest T20 Blast win when they face local rivals Sussex at Hove on Friday.

James Vince’s side currently sit fifth in the NatWest T20 Blast South Division and with just two games to go in the group stages, Hampshire will need victory in both to ensure they advance to the quarter-finals stage for a sixth consecutive year.

Hampshire Squad:

Hampshire name an unchanged 14-man squad for Friday’s fixture against Sussex.

Mason Crane, Gareth Berg and Jimmy Adams are all included once again, with the trio featuring in addition to Tuesday’s final eleven selected to face Gloucestershire.  

The Opposition:

Sussex have enjoyed a positive T20 campaign so far this season, with Luke Wright’s side currently second in the South Division needing just one win from their remaining games to ensure quarter-final qualification.

Wright has been an integral part of his side’s success so far in 2015, with the explosive batsman having scored more than 500 runs at an average of 58. The right-hander is set to lead his side and will likely be the danger-man at Hove this Friday.

Did You Know?

• Hampshire are unbeaten in their last four away fixtures against Sussex, with three victories.
• Yasir Arafat averages just 16.50 with the ball in all matches against Sussex, whilst best-figures of 4-17 back in 2008.
• Adam Wheater’s 15 T20 dismissals are the most by any wicket-keeper in the competition this season. 

What The Team Say:

Hampshire spinner, Danny Briggs said: ‘The nature of the group is that everyone has been beating each other but we need to play some solid cricket for the next two games and hopefully that’ll be enough to see us through.

‘It’s all about Friday night really, doing the best we can and performing tomorrow – as a team if we work hard, I think we can do it but we’ve just got to fight hard as a group.

‘He (Luke Wright) is obviously a good player and if he gets in he can be very dangerous but it’s hard to get runs in T20 and keep getting runs – we know they’ve got other dangerous players too so it’s the whole package that we have to be wary of.’

Full Hampshire Squad:

Michael Carberry, James Vince (c), Adam Wheater (wk), Owais Shah, Joe Gatting, Sean Terry, Will Smith, Jimmy Adams, Gareth Berg, Chris Wood, Yasir Arafat, Mason Crane, 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 also be ball-by-ball commentary available on BBC Radio Solent online at bbc.co.uk.

Weather Forecast:

Please click here to view the latest weather forecast for Hove.