Hampshire Royals v Middlesex Panthers

Friends Life t20

Friday 15 July (7:00pm start)

The Rose Bowl

Summary:

Hampshire go in to their final Friends Life t20 South Group match against the Middlesex Panthers knowing that they have already secured a top-of-the-table spot and a home quarter final. 

Consequently, the match will be a celebratory affair with a Barbados-themed event complete with a steel band, dancing girls and Bajan food and drink courtesy of Hampshire’s official Twenty20 shirt sponsors, the Barbados Tourism Authority. There will also be the opportunity to win an all-expenses trip to the West Indian island, courtesy of Hampshire's T20 shirt sponsor, the Barbados Tourism Authority and official travel partner, Virgin Atlantic (visit www.rosebowlplc.com for more details)

As the match has now been confirmed as not being on Sky start time is confirmed as 7:00pm 

Hampshire:

Having coasted to their most impressive win of the season (by 112-runs over the Sussex Sharks at Hove) on Sunday, Hampshire will be keen to rack up their eleventh straight home t20 win (a run stretching back to last season) and complete a clean sweep of home group match victories in the competition.

There’s also the opportunity to do the double over the Panthers – potentially the fourth team to suffer that fate - after Dominic Cork's men eased to a seven wicket victory at Uxbridge on 1 July. 

For the hosts, overseas all-rounder Shahid Afridi will miss the contest having returned home to Pakistan for personal reasons, but it is hoped he will return to The Rose Bowl for Hampshire’s home quarter final (to be played on either 6, 7 or 8 August). Dimitri Mascarenhas, however, returns to the squad having sat out the LV= County Championship match against Sussex this week.

With the bat, all eyes will be on James Vince, whose brilliant 85 in the Hove match propelled him to the top of the Royals t20 run-scoring charts and also made him the leading 6-hitter for this month. He has scored 387 runs at an average of 38.7 in 14 matches this summer, putting him slightly ahead of South African batsman Neil McKenzie who has notched 310 runs in as many matches. 

The Opposition:

Middlesex arrive at The Rose Bowl having enjoyed very contrasting fortunes. The Panthers currently sit bottom of the Friends Life t20 South Group table, having recorded only two wins all summer.

 While the pressure is off for Middlesex knowing that they have nothing to play for in terms of progressing in the competition, it is still mathematically possible for Neil Dexter’s team to reach seven points and lift themselves from the foot of the table. However, for this to happen, they would need to win against Hampshire with a healthy run rate and hope eighth placed Gloucestershire Gladiators lose their remaining fixture.

 With the ball, Australian all-rounder Steven Crook has been the Panthers standout performer in the competition, taking 16 wickets at an average of 21. He is likely to be joined by England paceman Steven Finn in the fast bowling stakes, but, that aside, the Panthers have struggled in that department.

 Elsewhere, Tom Smith and Scott Newman have been consistent with the bat this summer - while the talented Dawid Malan is always a threat at the top of the order. 

Hampshire Squad: 

(4) Jimmy Adams

(6) Michael Lumb

(7) Sean Ervine

(9) Nic Pothas+

(12) Dominic Cork*

(13) Benny Howell

(14) James Vince

(17) Dimitri Mascarenhas

(19) Danny Briggs

(25) Chris Wood

(27) Neil McKenzie

(42) Imran Tahir 

Weather Forecast:

Sunshine with some cloud

 Coverage:

Live text commentary will be available for this match. Visit Hampshire Cricket’s Facebook and Twitter pages for all the major incidents as they happen. BBC Radio Solent will also be broadcasting live ball-by ball coverage online. 

Tickets:

Tickets are still available for this match. Visit www.rosebowlplc.com for more.

Press enquiries to:

Simon Vincent

The Rose Bowl

simon.vincent@rosebowlplc.com

023 8047 5624 | 07920 452 524