Hampshire Slip To Six Wicket Lord’s Defeat

Hampshire – the 2018 Royal London One-Day Cup champions – were unable to defend the trophy they won against Kent Spitfires last summer as they slipped to a six wicket defeat to an impressive Somerset side in the Royal London One-Day Cup final at Lord’s.

Somerset’s win ends their 14-year wait for a major trophy with the south-west county’s bowlers – led by man-of-the-match Jamie Overton – making it difficult for Hampshire from the outset.

Hampshire lost regular wickets, slipping to 50 for three, with Josh Davey the pick of the bowlers early on. Alsop (16), Donald (11) and Weatherley (12) all got starts of sorts but were unable to kick on while the hero of the 2018 final, Rilee Rossouw, looked good for his 28 and was unlucky to play on when looking set. Stand in skipper Northeast top scored with 56, but the departures of Berg (28), Abbott and Wood left Hampshire struggling at 180-8.

James Fuller – who hit his maiden half-century (55*) – and Mason Crane (28*) added late runs to give Hampshire hope, finishing on 244-8.

However, Somerset openers Tom Banton (69) and Azhar Ali (45) got the Taunton-based side off to a flier and Hampshire were unable to wrestle back the momentum, despite a fiery second spell from Fidel Edwards (3-69) with Somerset stalwart James Hildreth (69*) seeing his side over the line with 6.3 overs remaining for a six wicket win and their first trophy since 2005.