From The Archive: Hampshire v Somerset

Hampshire concluded their first T20 season with a 19-run defeat against Surrey, who would continue, to become the 2003 Champions as Adam Hollioake took 5-21. Simon Katich who would not return to Hampshire for nine years scored 45. In the following season, Hollioake repeated the feat with 5-34, following 76* by Ramprakash, as Surrey won again by 32 runs, although this time they lost the Final to Leicestershire.

In 2005, Hampshire recorded their first victory over the Londoners with Richard Logan (4-37) and James Bruce (3-20) dismissing them for 118. In 2006, we lost our last four wickets for five runs, and were defeated by 10 runs, while in the following year we lost a rain-affected 10-over match at the Oval. Doshi took 4-30 in the first match and 3-6 in the shortened game. Ian Harvey and ‘Nante’ Hayward had brief T20 careers with Hampshire, but took two wickets each as we chased down 176 at the Oval in 2008, when three of our batsmen, Carberry, Lumb and Ervine, got into the forties. We also won the return, with Lumb scoring 63.

2009 saw a low-scoring thriller at the Oval; after Surrey posted 125-8, we lost both openers for ‘ducks’, recovered thanks mainly to Chris Benham (39), but fell one run short of the Surrey total. Our openers Lumb and Adams were in better form for the return, posting 93 as we won by 18 runs, while in the following year Jimmy Adams 101* saw us home by 10 runs (Wood 3-30) before Surrey’s victory by one more run at the Oval. Andrew Symonds who had previously hammered our attack for Kent in 2003 now top-scored with 63 for Surrey.

We won one game each again in 2011 but were successful in both games in 2012, not least at the Oval when Liam Dawson dismissed Kevin Pietersen with the first ball of a rain-affected match, which we won by ten wickets, scoring 63-0 in 5.4 overs. At the The Ageas Bowl Surrey recovered from 9-4 but could only post 94-6 with four Hampshire bowlers conceding fewer than 20 runs from their four overs. Carberry’s 60 took us to victory in 2013 and we won again that year in a low-scoring game at the Oval, but this winning sequence was broken disappointingly in the semi-final at Edgbaston which Surrey won in the final over.

In 2015, Adam Wheater’s 78 took us to victory in the single match that year, played at the The Ageas Bowl, while Surrey thumped us by 80 runs in the following year. 2017 was another match in which rain prevented any play, while last season, Adam Finch hit 67 from 57 balls as Surrey won by seven wickets. We have now won 11 matches each, but in view of recent games perhaps it’s time we won again!

Dave Allen