Hampshire V Somerset T20

6th July 2014

Family Day at the Ageas Bowl meant the ground was swamped with kids and families but this was no bad thing, it was great to see so many people enjoying the cricket. Ian and I were also confident that we were going to witness a win as Somerset hasn’t had the best of seasons so far. Unfortunately however, Hampshire gave us another poor performance.

RAF avoiding the traffic!

 

Somerset won the toss and elected to bat first and although boundaries become more regular as the innings developed, Hampshire’s fielding on the whole was tight. At half time predictions I guessed Somerset would achieve 156 whereas Ian thought more and pumped for 170. Somerset ended their session 155-4 =1 point to me!

Second innings began badly with Vince going for a duck at LBW to Trego leaving Hampshire 1-1 and the wickets continued to fall thereafter. Adams got caught out for 7 (11-2), Smith went for 16 (33-3), Maxwell and Carberry soon following both got run out leaving the score 33-4 and 36-5 respectively. Ervine got stumped for 2 (41-6) by which point all optimism for a win had evaporated so at half time predictions Ian guessed Hampshire would make 120 whereas I, in anticipation that in panic Hampshire might have a smash round to increase the score, went for 130. But this was soon obvious that was an ambitious hope as Coles got caught for 25 (83-7), Wood flicked himself out for 14 (88-8), Abbott got caught for 16 (115-9) and on the final ball Bates got caught for 15 leaving Hampshire reeling at a disappointing 116-10 =1 point to Ian!

Having a drink with Balcombe & Tomlinson

On the whole Hampshire got balls to the boundary on several occasions and in their defence took every opportunity for runs but some silly mistakes kept them from the win.

Claire

Hants V Surrey Championship

Day two

Another trip to the Oval on Sunday and one we hoped would be much better than Friday night’s disappointing visit.

We love going to the Oval and this trip was particularly exciting as owing to our Hampshire membership it meant we could go and sit inside the pavilion and enjoy the facilities for the first time. The member’s area at Surrey is fantastic and it was lovely to enjoy the views across central London whilst watching play. The other thing we really enjoyed about the pavilion was the history around the place. The paintings, the photos, the memorabilia was just fascinating to us and made rain delays more bearable.

The days play began with Surrey on 68-1 after rain ruined the opening day on the Saturday. Abbott and Tomlinson whose beard is getting more incredible by the week had little early luck with the ball so Jimmy Adams turned to spinner Danny Briggs. He immediately took two wickets dismissing Rory Burns and the well set Vikram Solanki. The other spinner who was only playing his second first class match was youngster Brad Taylor, a mere 17 years old and despite his age and inexperience against his peers he got Steve Davies out for 38 and the score was 180-4 at this point. What a trooper!

After lunch Briggs was in the wickets again getting the dangerous Dilshan who had motored the score along since coming in at no 4 for 69 and I thought Hampshire were in a position to really get into Surrey at 223-5. Unfortunately it did not work out this way and the on form Jason Roy and Surrey Captain Gary Wilson dominated the two spinners going at over four against them. Matt Coles was also poor and Hampshire had let Surrey get away from them.

The afternoon and evening session saw at least three rain delays but the interruptions did not affect the batsman as Roy brought up his century off 102 balls with 13 fours and three sixes. It meant that after Friday’s mauling by Roy it felt like all we had done this weekend was watch Jason Roy gradually destroy Hampshire’s hopes with every ball. Wilson finished on 63 not out with Surrey 382-5.

Amazing view from the top of the Pavilion

Day three

For Hampshire fans the day couldn’t have started any better, amazingly Kyle Abbott got Roy with the first ball of the day and Surrey struggled to score as freely thereafter. Once Surrey reached 400 and maximum bonus points Surrey fans I spoke to couldn’t work out why they hadn’t declared. Later on Coles bowled better than the day before and got the wickets of Wilson and O’Brien before Surrey declared at 474-8.

The time left in the game meant Hampshire could not win but had to at least save the follow on to prevent a possible defeat. Carberry went early to the impressive Matt Dunn but Smith and Adams looked comfortable whilst not scoring quickly on a pitch that was very lifeless. Adams was LBW to Batty for 79. A shame as he has played consistently well this season but has yet to reach three figures. Vince departed not long after for 7 LBW to Batty as well and a little worrying period at the end of the day was seen out by Sean Ervine 1* and Will Smith 61*. Bad light and rain brought another early finish to the day with Hampshire 167-3.

Day four and Hampshire survived a few more scares to draw the game but have surrendered top spot to Worcestershire whilst Surrey have gained a bit of ground in the promotion race.

Enjoying a rare opportunity to walk the pitch during lunch

Ian and Claire

Hants V Surrey T20

A rare poor Hampshire display saw them smashed by Surrey on Friday night at the Oval.

I guess this game was never going to be our night after train delays around Waterloo meant that it was an ordeal to make it to the Oval in time for play. We got there just as it started and as a result never felt settled.

Surrey won the toss and asked Hampshire to bat. Hampshire just didn’t get going and scoring was difficult on what looked a two paced pitch. The powerplay ended 36-3 which was very poor by Hampshire’s usual standards with Vince, Adams and Carberry all back in the pavillion cheaply. Things did not get any better as Ervine, Maxwell and Coles all came and went leaving the score 57-6. Will Smith re-built the innings as best as he could along with Chris Wood but Surrey were always on top.

Further regular wickets fell and Hampshire limped to a score of 133-9 from 20 overs. I thought that at this stage that we would be in the pub early and so it proved with Surrey and Jason Roy in particular making a mockery of Hampshire’s earlier batting efforts. He hit 9 fours and 3 sixes in an innings of 63 heavily outscoring Dilshan. Roy is the second highest run-scorer in the Blast and has produced consistent scores for a while and will be worth a place in the England T20 squad.

With the ball only Danny Briggs could really take any credit with 1-19 of his overs whilst the other bowlers took plenty of punishment from Roy, KP and Wilson. The game was won by a six at the end of the 14th over from Gary Wilson.

The defeat meant Hampshire stay second in the table behind Essex with Surrey gaining points to go third. Surrey on this evidence looked strong and as they were finalists last year I expect them to feature in the knockout rounds.

Hampshire should still qualify as hopefully this was just a bad night at the office. There are issues that need to be addressed though if we are to do well in the later stages. The bowling is not as strong as it could be and we are missing Liam Dawson. When the bowlers are struggling Vince does not have anywhere to turn to bowl a few overs. Ervine and Maxwell who you would hope could perform this role have struggled when asked to bowl.

The lower middle order are struggling too and are not capitalising on good starts by Carberry, Vince and Adams. When these three fail the result is what happened at the Oval. Dawson to come back from injury soon and room needs to be made for Owais Shah.

Half way predictions during both innings were tough, despite Hampshire’s poor play I guessed we would achieve 135 wheras Claire wasn’t as optimistic and went for 115. Fortunately Hampshire just about pulled through and I took the first point. Both knowing that Surrey were going to take the victory, it was a case of when so I went for the 14th over and Claire 15th… I again took the point which was a relief as Claire was 2 points ahead from the previous game we attended so we’re now equal!

 

Ian and Claire

Hants V Gloucestershire T20

A lovely evening and perfect conditions to watch a game of cricket. Hampshire went into the game after having lost their last T20 at Taunton by just one run second in the table looking to get back to winning in this format.

Hampshire won the toss and decided to bat first on a good pitch with a short boundary towards the Ingleby-Mckenzie stand. Owais Shah was left out for Danny Briggs who missed the last game due to paternity leave.

First over Carberry played out a maiden to David Payne and struggled to get going and was out for just 5. James Vince at the other end left on from his 240 at Essex started blasting it and along with Jimmy Adams they took Hampshire up to 52 before Vince fell trying one big hit too many on the last ball of the power-play.

Maxwell joined Adams and they kept the momentum going with Maxwell hitting two huge sixes into the hotel end. Maxwell was bowled by Tom Smith for 30 off just 18 balls when the score was 120-3. Ervine, Wheater, Smith and Wood all came in and helped the Adams to get the total up to 180-6 at the innings break. Adams top scored with 69 of 61 balls and special mention should go to his aggressive running between the wickets. He turned ones into twos and twos into threes. This was to prove invaluable later on as 180 was an ok score but not an impossible one for Glos to reach

The reply started well and Alex Gidman and Michael Klinger gave the innings a good platform getting to 61 in the 9th over. The innings changed here with Will Smith getting two wickers in an over. The innings went nowhere and for the next five overs Hampshire were well on top.

Matt Coles struck twice in the 12th over and with Smith getting his third wicket followed by a run out in the 15th over. Gloucestershire needed 74 runs to win with just 30 balls to go. Here Hampshire old boy Benny Howell with Tom Smith gave Hampshire a real fright. 46 runs were blasted off three overs from Briggs, Wood and Abbott and the target became 28 off two overs. A decent Wood over conceding 8 in the 19th meant 21 were needed off the last over.

I felt that this would be easy enough but when three consecutive 4s were hit to make it 8 off 3, I and the rest of the 7000 crowd felt we had thrown it away. Fortunately the next ball was just a single and the following ball the batsman attempted to steal but Howell was ran out. This meant the new man in McCarter had to hit the last ball of the match for 6 to win. He failed and they ran three giving Hampshire an exciting 2 run victory

The victory meant Hampshire stayed second in the south group as Essex had their own narrow victory over Middlesex last night. For a T20 game that was a very good game and shows that it’s never quite over no matter the situation.

Ian

Hants V Essex: Day 1 & 2

This week I saw two very interesting and exciting days cricket.

Hampshire began the game top of the table and Essex were third in the table so this looked like it would be a tough test of Hampshire’s promotion credentials.

Essex won the toss and asked Hampshire to bat on a green pitch in overcast conditions. They made an early breakthrough getting Jimmy Adams for 0 before we had even took our seats. Carberry and Smith started building the innings before Carberry was caught behind of the very quick but wayward Tymal Mills for 35. Lunch was taken with Hampshire at 85-2.

After lunch Vince and Smith were together before wickets starting falling quite regularly. It seems as if it was a difficult pitch to bat on as 5 of the top 6 reached 30 but none went past Adam Wheater’s top score of 42. This meant that Hampshire were bowled out for 286 in the 79th over.

286 seemed only a par total at the time but as it was to prove later in the game it was more than enough.

When Essex came out to bat they were quickly in trouble as Tom Westley and Ravi Bopara were removed by Abbott and Tomlinson with just 2 runs on the board Nick Browne and James Foster rallied for the visitors and they closed the day on 55-2. This further suggested that 286 was going to be an adequate score at best.

 

Day 2 was full of drama and ended up being probably the most dominant performance in championship cricket I have ever seen by Hampshire.

I missed the first 40 minutes due to oversleeping thanks to a few late nights watching the world cup in Brazil. I arrived at the ground to discover that Kyle Abbott hadripped out 3 Essex wickets in 6 balls to see Essex 69-5. I was worried that my arrival would start an Essex rearguard but to my delight it never came and Essex went further downhill. Matt Coles and Tomlinson got themselves in on the act taking wickets as well and Essex were 92-9. Reece Topley and Tymal Mills pushed them up to 121 but it was a brilliant effort from Hampshire and began to show that 286 was not that bad after all.

Lunch was taken and Jimmy Adams had the option of putting Essex back into bat but decide he would bat again and push the game out of the reach of Essex. Carberry and Adams departed early and the score was 24-2 when James Vince joined Will Smith. This was when the fun began. Vince gave chances early edging through slip and gully twice and also surviving a close LBW shout but was scoring quickly and beginning to take the game away from Essex. Will Smith supported him well going at a slower rate but still capable of good looking shots.

Vince reached his hundred off 99 balls striking 18 boundaries as the tempo never let up and the Essex fielders grew more and more demoralised. A break for bad light meant the fun stopped for a while but play resumed for 9 overs and they picked up where they left off. Vince finished the day on 154 not out and Smith on 78 not out with an unbroken stand of 240. This wicket partnership broke a 116 year old record for 3rd wicket partnership against Essex.

 

On the third day Vince reached 240 before finally getting out and Will Smith reached his first century for Hampshire. The partnership was 387 in the end and the Hampshire total was 440-3 declared. This set Essex the small matter of 615 to win. Essex folded tamely again and were all out for 135. The 470 runs victory was the largest by Hampshire in their history in terms of runs.

 

Ian

 

Hants V Kent T20

Friday 5^th June: Hampshire won the toss and elected to bat first.

It was a disappointing start with Vince getting caught out for a meagre 5 runs and Carberry also started slow, mostly allowing Adam’s to hold strike but as the innings progressed so did his strike rate.

Predictions at 10 overs saw Ian guess Hampshire would complete the first innings achieving 165, I was slightly more optimistic and pumped for 175 as I felt Hampshire’s confidence at the crease was strengthening and a smash round towards the end wasn’t unlikely.

Carbs scored his 50 at 14 overs and went on to eventually get 73. During the game Ian tried to teach me how to fill in a score card but during the first innings I made a bit of a hash of it to be honest, I can multitask (like any woman can!) but in this situation trying to concentrate on the game and fill in a score card proved too much, ha!

Hampshire finished 171-8 =1 point to me!

The second innings proved a little frustrating with both Vince and Ervine dropping crucial catches and the umpires requested a review to determine Darren Stevens’ dismissal.

Predictions saw us both say Hampshire will win Ian guessing Kent will only achieve 164 and me 145, the final score saw Kent get 149-4 = me taking both points for the evening! Boom!

Hampshire won but on 15 overs of the Kent innings they looked like they were in complete control but thanks to some excellent death bowling Kent fell well short.

 

Claire and Ian

Hants V Essex T20

On Friday 30th May we ventured down to the Ageas Bowl for another evening of T20 cricket!

In our last T20 post (Hants V Glamorgan) I mentioned the competition that Ian and I take part in each season and before tonight the score board had us at 1 point each so let’s see how we did after today’s play!
Hampshire won the toss and elected to bowl and Hampshire started well by gaining an early wicket with Briggs taking the catch off the bowling of Wood leaving the score at 4-1. At 10 overs 2 further players had been bowled by Briggs and Smith making the score 64-3 so for predictions, Ian punted for Essex achieving 150, I went a bit lower based on the early wickets and logged a score of 135. Hampshire throughout the 1st innings missed several core catches but the following 10 overs still saw wickets fall and on the final ball Essex smacked a 6 completing their innings at 145-5 which for me was incredibly frustrating as I was in line for the point and at the last moment it went to Ian! Goddammit!

After the innings break, we were in for early disappointment as Carberry went for a 4th ball duck leaving Hampshire 0-1. However, despite Essex’s tight fielding we were only to see a further wicket fall in the remainder of the innings with Adams being caught out for 32. Vince, although almost being caught achieved his 50 without being at his best and finishing the innings at 57 not out! Owais Shah played well starting his innings slowly then accelerating towards the end. Shah smashed a six to reach 50 and win the game. The way Shah played reminded me of Neil Mckenzie and his ability to fulfil this role is great news for Hampshire.

At half time predictions, Ian reckoned Hampshire were going to win the game and would achieve this at the 19th over, I felt the same but went for the 18th over instead and success was to be mine! Hampshire won the game by 8 wickets finishing at 146-2! Ian and I are also at 2 points each respectively.

Tonight’s T20 was also a special night for one of the Hampshire players, Sean Ervine who marks his 100th T20 match! Now I will admit that I have a bit of a soft spot for Ervine… Ian will say because I like him (wink wink), I will say however that he was merely one of the first Hampshire players I got familiar with and therefore I have felt myself gravitate towards a natural awareness of his presence and progress over the others. Much like Bairstow for England, he got selected for the team at around the same time I got introduced to cricket so I naturally took an interest in him and followed his progress closely. You know what folks, believe what you like but I made sure that prior to the game he knew he was my top player and I was rooting for him! 😉

Claire meeting Ervine last summer

Unfortunately for Ervine, he never made it out to the crease. This in some respects is good as it meant we didn’t lose enough wickets to need him to bat… but this fundamentally also meant that he didn’t have a bat on what was a milestone game for him.

That win means three wins out of four for Hampshire this season in T20 and with the arrival of Glenn Maxwell next week for the Kent game it is a great time to be supporting Hampshire.

 

Claire and Ian

Hants V Leicestershire

Hampshire has just completed another 4 day win, this time up at Leicester. The win was achieved quite emphatically as Leicestershire were bowled out in 30 overs for just 96. The win was interesting in that it was a victory with no Hampshire player making a hundred or taking five wickets in an innings. It gives me a sense that there is still more to come from the players and we are in for a real treat when they hopefully move up another gear.

This means Hampshire are still top of the table from Worcestershire with a nice gap opening up above the teams below us.

Ian