Match Preview: Hampshire v Surrey - NatWest T20 Blast - 7:00pm Start

Hampshire look to bounce back from a disappointing home loss against Glamorgan as they face a resurgent Surrey side at the The Ageas Bowl on Friday.

Despite a fantastic half-century from Michael Carberry, James Vince’s side were unable to grab a victory over Glamorgan last time out, however the Hampshire skipper will be hoping that a positive result against Surrey, will turn his team’s fortunes around heading into the final fixtures of this year’s group stage.

Hampshire Squad:

Hampshire name an unchanged 12-man squad from the side that faced Glamorgan.

Batsman Joe Gatting is included in the squad once again and is the only player who did not feature in last week’s final eleven.

The Opposition:

Surrey have endured a mixed 2015 T20 campaign so far. After looking all but out of the running for a quarter-final place in the South Division just two weeks ago, Gareth Batty’s side have forced their way back into contention after winning their last three matches in the competition.

The addition of the experienced Kumar Sangakkara for this season’s campaign as well as having England international Jason Roy back available for this summer’s remaining fixtures has been a boost to last year’s fellow semi-finalists.

Surrey currently sit in sixth place in the South Division, one place above Hampshire, with both sides having picked up 10 points in the competition so far.

Did You Know?

• Hampshire have won their last six home T20 fixtures against Surrey and have not lost to the London-based side at home since 2006.
• Yasir Arafat needs just two wickets to become first player to take 150 wickets in English domestic T20s.
• Jimmy Adams’ highest T20 score of 101* came against Surrey at the The Ageas Bowl back in 2010.

What The Team Say:

Hampshire Director of Cricket, Giles White said: “They {Surrey} struggled to start with, but they have hit a bit of form at the right time. They are in a similar position to us in that they need a win so it should make for an exciting match.

“We have put together some very good performances in T20 cricket this year, but we’ve just struggled to get over the line in the last few matches. This is the business end of the competition now and hopefully we can put together a string of positive results that can give us a Quarter-Final place.”

“Where we are placed at the moment, all it takes is one win to propel us up the table. But we just need to focus on what we are doing on the field and take each game as it comes.”

Hampshire Squad:

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

Additional Information:

The match starts at 7pm with gates open at 5:30pm.

Match-day programmes can be purchased on the day for £3 (including a free scorecard). Scorecards are also available to purchase individually for just 50p.

Rock and covers band ‘GUNLOCKER’ will be performing behind the Shane Warne Stand upon the conclusion of play.

Weather Forecast:

Please click here to view the latest weather forecast for the The Ageas Bowl.

If you are unsure on the latest situation with the weather at the ground, you can call our Match Day Information Line on 023 8047 5662

Tickets:

Tickets for all four days of this match are available to purchase via our online ticketing website, over the phone on 0844 847 1863, or in person at the The Ageas Bowl Ticketing and Membership Office via normal working hours or Match Day ticket office on match days.

The crowd is expected to be our largest at the ground since 2013 so be sure not to miss out by getting your tickets today!