Hampshire Royals v Middlesex Panthers
Friends Life t20
Wednesday 31st July (7.00pm)
The Ageas Bowl
Hampshire Royals beat Middlesex Panthers by eight runs
Hampshire: 190-3
Middlesex: 182-7
Scorecard
Concurrent table
Photo Gallery
Royals Team:
Carberry, Vince, Adams, McKenzie, Ervine, Dawson, Wheater+, Mascarenhas*, Wood, Briggs, Griffiths
Panthers Team:
Stirling, Malan, Denly, Voges, Morgan, Rossington+, Dexter*, Berg, Mills, Patel, Rayner.
An unbroken partnership of 101 between Sean Ervine (60*) and Neil McKenzie (47*) helped Hampshire post their highest Friends Life t20 score this season and secure an eight-run victory over the Middlesex Panthers at The Ageas Bowl.
Jimmy Adams had hit 43 at the top of the order before Ervine and McKenzie powered the Royals to 190-3 off their 20 overs.
Joe Denly hit 67, but the visitors were always behind the required run-rate in their reply as Chris Wood (3-31) and David Griffiths (2-34) helped Hampshire restrict Middlesex to 182-7 to seal their third successive victory.
Despite picking up the early wicket of dangerman Michael Carberry (5), it was Hampshire who made the better start with Adams and James Vince (28) finding the boundary at ease to leave the home side 57-1 after five overs.
Even though Middlesex hit back with the two quick wickets, the Hampshire batsman were playing with the calmness and confidence you’d expect from a team that had already qualified. A quite magnificent array of shots to all parts of the ground from Ervine and McKenzie pushed Hampshire to the 150 mark and beyond.
And Ervine fittingly reached his half-century off 26 balls (four fours, four sixes) with a four through the off-side to leave the Royals 169-3 after 18 overs. And the pair didn’t stop there as they reached their century partnership and a team total of 190-3 from the last ball of their innings.
Despite the imposing total, Ervine and McKenzie did fall 11 runs short of Hampshire highest fourth wicket partnership in twenty20 cricket – the record of which is held by the same two batsmen.
Middlesex knew they would need to start strong if they were to chase such a big target – and they did just that with Paul Stirling (24) and Dawid Malan (16) finding the boundary line regularly early on. However, Wood grabbed his first dismissal before Griffiths picked up two quick wickets to leave Middlesex 46-3 – and suddenly, the visitors were falling behind the required run-rate.
And despite Denly picking up his fifty from 37 balls, Middlesex were always just behind the required what was required leaving themselves too much to do. And needing 17 runs of the last over, the visitors fell just short to hand Hampshire the eight run win.
Words: Jamie Hopkins
Images: LMI Photography