Royals Go For the Hat-Trick Against Kent

Jun 4 2011

Kent Spitfires v Hampshire Royals
Friends Life t20
Sunday 5 June (15.00 start)
The Nevill, Tunbridge Wells

Summary:
The Hampshire Royals meet the Kent Spitfires on Sunday looking to continue their excellent start in the Friends Life t20 campaign.

The defending Champions have recorded comfortable victories in both their matches so far (against Somerset and Surrey) so, with the Royals yet to record a win on the road in any competition so far this season, they’ll see this as the perfect opportunity to break that duck.

Hampshire:
Unsurprisingly, given their start, manager Giles White continues with the same 13-man squad which has performed so well so far.

At the moment, it’s difficult to see where there is space for any newcomers given that the bowling group of Danny Briggs, Imran Tahir, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Dominic Cork and Chris Wood have managed to limit two of the most imposing batting line-ups in limited overs cricket to below par scores.

And, following up, the top four batsmen, Jimmy Adams, Michael Lumb, James Vince and Neil McKenzie have, between them, guided their side to the brink of victory in both of their run chases.

Benny Howell, Nic Pothas, Simon Jones and Johann Myburgh make up the remainder of the travelling party.

The Opposition:
Kent couldn’t have had a more different start to the FLt20 campaign, having been routed on Friday night by Hampshire’s first day victims, Somerset - losing by nine wickets with a massive 18 balls to spare.

And if that wasn’t enough, Hampshire were, without doubt, Kent’s bogey team last season, playing them six times in three competitions and beating them on five occasions – including doing the double over them in the T20 – so the omens aren’t looking good for the home side.

If they’re to be successful, the key, you suspect, will be the performance of Martin van Jaarsveld – the punishing batsman who is one run away from 750 in all competitions already this season. He leads the team’s batting averages in the Clydesdale Bank 40 and LV= County Championship Division Two campaigns and will certainly be looking to improve upon the five runs he got against Somerset.

With the ball, they have t20 signing Charl Langeveld available to them once again after he picked up his side’s only wicket on Friday night. However, the match comes too early for fellow newcomer, Pakistani pace bowler, Wahab Riaz, who’s No Objection Certificate was issued by the PCB on Saturday.

Hampshire Squad:

Weather Forecast:
Overcast

Coverage:
Live text commentary will be available for this match. Visit Hampshire Cricket’s Facebook and Twitter pages for all the major incidents as they happen. BBC Radio Solent will also be broadcasting live ball-by-ball coverage of the game online.

Tickets:
Tickets are still available for this matchand will be available to purchase on the door.

Words: Simon Vincent
Images: LMI Photography