Twenty20 v Kent Spitfires 26th June

Jun 26 2009

Hampshire Hawks look to maintain their 100% home Twenty20 record to put them in good stead to progress into the quarter finals. Lose and they will have to rely on other results to proceed. Kent Spitfires find themselves in a similar position; it’s a game neither team dares to lose.  

Kent’s captain Rob Key lost the toss allowing Dimi Mascarenhas the choice to bat first and 9 runs from the first over seemed to vindicate that decision. However the second over saw the first wicket tumble and Jimmy Adams was out for 5 as he was caught by Key off Ryan McLaren.

It wasn’t long until the second wicket fell; Michael Carberry succumbed to McLaren’s medium pace and aired his delivery for Justin Kemp to take a simple catch. It then went from bad to worse. Azhar Mahmood got the prize wicket of Michael Lumb as he skied his delivery for McLaren to catch well at mid wicket for 10.

Unfortunately for the packed crowd there was worse to come. Sean Ervine hit a Simon Cook delivery up into the air for Amjad Khan to catch for just 2. The end of the power play saw Hampshire lose four left handers, all in similar circumstances, and more worryingly it left them 30 for 4 with a real fight on their hands.

The fight got more difficult when Liam Dawson (4) tried to knock Khan over short leg, but he didn’t get enough on it so it allowed Martin van Jaarsveld to take a decent catch. Wickets continued to tumble; Geraint Jones stumped Chris Benham for just 3 after he tried to come down the pitch to a Darren Stevens delivery.

The Hampshire fans finally had something to cheer when Nic Pothas found the boundary, the first since the third over, and Mascarenhas followed suit hitting another four to somewhat rebuild the Hampshire innings. But with 82 on the board Pothas played on for 21 from the bowling of James Tredwell. 

New man Dominic Cork smashed Tredwell for a 6 then Mascarenhas also hit a maximum as the pair brought up Hampshire’s 100 in the 19th over. Mascarenhas finished on 45 not out and Cork 18 as the pair used all of their experience to put on a 49 run partnership that gave Hampshire a fighting chance; they finished on 131 for 7.