Royals Secure Quarter-Final Slot Despite Rain Abandonment

Match report from the Hampshire Royals' Friends Life t20 match against the Sussex Sharks at The Ageas Bowl

 Hampshire Royals v Sussex Sharks
Friends Life t20
FRIday 6 July 2012
The Ageas Bowl

Summary: Rain Abandoned
Sussex Sharks: 203-5 (17.4 overs)
Hampshire Royals: DNB
Scorecard

Royals Team
Adams, Vince, McKenzie, Ervine, Maxwell, Dawson, Mascarenhas*, Ali, Wood, Bates+, Briggs
Sussex Team
Nash, Wright, Prior+, Goodwin, Styris, Gatting, Yardy*, Beer, Rippon, Liddle, Khan

It’s not the way Hampshire would have wanted it to happen but a point against Sussex in this rain-abandoned Friends Life t20 match at The Ageas Bowl sees them qualify for the knock-out stages of the competition for the fourth year in a row – a quite marvellous achievement by anybody’s standards.

The match was called off at around 9:15pm – 17.4 overs into the Sharks’ innings – ensuring the very least the Royals can do is qualify as one of the two best third-placed teams across the three groups. It also means that they can’t now top their group but could, with the right set of results on Sunday, gain a home Quarter-Final draw by virtue of finishing the best-qualified runner up.

Earlier in the evening, a prolific knock of 81 from Sussex wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior had threatened to take this game away from Hampshire; his 114-run partnership with Luke Wright (38) doing the majority of the leg-work in getting the Sharks to an imposing 203-5 before the heavens opened.

The Royals’ final match of the group stages is against the Essex Eagles at The Ageas Bowl on Sunday 8 July.

 

The Sharks’ innings was one dominated by that massive partnership. Having been inserted by Dimi Mascarenhas, they might have, briefly, felt it was all going to go against them when, in the first over, Liam Dawson knocked back Chris Nash’s (10) off-stump. But any illusions the Royals might have had of repeating a Surrey-style top order demolition were quickly removed when Prior – who came into the match with a strike rate of more than 200 – came to the crease and quickly set the tone with a top-edged first six of the match.

And the England wicketkeeper-batsman continued to take the lead, scoring the majority of runs as his side reached 50 inside four overs and a massive 84-1 at the end of the powerplay. His own personal 50 came up off just 21 balls and, just as his own confidence was starting to rub off on partner Wright, Glenn Maxwell was brought into the attack and, in his first over, got the all-rounder to sky one to James Vince.

And once Prior was also caught in the deep by Vince in the 13th over off Danny Briggs (who was the only bowler to bowl out his overs, ending with figures of 2-28), the Sharks’ innings – at that point sitting pretty on 147-3 – started to falter. They lost Scott Styris (1) and Murray Goodwin (15) in the next 20 balls and, what’s more, the overs were starting to go for 4, 6 and 7 rather than the 16, 18 and 20 recorded earlier.

Some late resistance from Joe Gatting (24*) and skipper Michael Yardy (12*) saw the visitors to 200 by the time the rain came to disrupt the Sharks’ innings for a second time in the evening. This time they wouldn’t get back on; not that the Sharks will mind – they’ve secured top spot in what is largely believed to be the strongest group in the country.

Words: Simon Vincent
Images: LMI Photography

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