Hampshire’s remarkable turnaround to win Blast

A week ago, I felt that momentum was with Somerset but, after struggling to contain Lancashire in the Championship then being strangled by Hampshire in the T20 semi-final at Edgbaston, all that evaporated. Instead, it was Hampshire who proved to be on the roll which really mattered.

Incredibly, they lost their opening four group fixtures but fought back to qualify for the knockouts. In the Final against Lancashire, despite a below-par total of 152-8, Matt Parkinson's four wickets, a brief opening blitz by Phil Salt and a few tumbling ramp shots from Keaton Jennings, James Vince’s men showed admirable patience and belief in their ability. Dane Vilas’ strategy of a solid Powerplay and thereafter minimising risk to reach the modest target seemed sensible but, as against Somerset a few hours earlier, Liam Dawson’s consistently mean spin and Nathan Ellis’ brilliant execution of the slower ball turned things around in remarkable fashion – then it could all have gone ridiculously awry. Lightning had to score a boundary from the final ball but Richard Gleeson was bowled. Cue pitch invasion, fireworks, the usual Sky razzmatazz. Until umpire Graham Lloyd was spotted signalling a no-ball: Ellis had overstepped! Once the pyrotechnic smoke had dispersed, Ellis and Gleeson had to take breath again only this time the target had been reduced by two, and it was a free hit. Could the Hawks have blown all that good work? No, Gleeson swung and missed and Hampshire had won – again.

Phew! I could get to like Twenty20 after all.

Earlier in the week, there had been some remarkable performances in the four-day format. Amidst an orgy of runs around the country, Keaton Jennings struck the first Championship triple-century for five seasons against Somerset, for whom only Lewis Goldsworthy possessed the determination to prevent a sixth defeat of the summer.

At Scarborough, Yorkshire and Surrey fought a real ding-dong of a game. Both counties passed 500 in their first innings. Opener Adam Lyth and ‘keeper Jonny Tattersall, in his first Championship appearance of 2022, put on 305 for the sixth wicket, and the latter took three stumpings and two catches off spinner Dom Bess as Surrey went for their shots. With a draw looking the most likely outcome, Jamie Overton’s 6-61 gave the leaders a chance of a last-afternoon victory. The batters timed the chase perfectly, Foakes and debutant Hardie finished the job with just three balls to spare.

Therefore, Surrey remain in the driving seat but those Hampshire boys don’t know when they’re beaten. They made relatively short work of Warwickshire with a side very different from the one which succeeded in the Blast. In particular, veteran seamers Barker and Abbott were back in form.

Essex thrashed Gloucestershire by nine wickets, thanks to a century from Alastair Cook and one of those vintage Simon Harmer one-man bowling shows; he ended with match analyses of 13-156. Northamptonshire spinners Keogh and Kerrigan took all ten Kent wickets on the final day to claim a 203-run triumph at Canterbury. South African Ryan Rickelton supplied a fair chunk of those runs.

Two other Saffers were accumulating plenty for Leicestershire at Hove. There were batting records galore, as only fifteen wickets fell for 1,564 runs. Tom Alsop top-scored with 150 as Sussex piled on 588, but this total was eclipsed easily by the visitors. The reply had an inauspicious start, as Hazad fell first-ball. However, most of the rest filled their boots. In particular, Colin Ackermann and Wiaan Mulder each made double-hundreds, sharing an unbeaten county record partnership of 477 as the county declared on 756-4, easily their best-ever in the competition.

Also in Division Two, another South African, Leus du Plooy, scored a century in each innings for Derbyshire at Chester-le-Street. However, Chris Rushworth celebrated his 36h birthday with the fifth ten-for of his long career to keep Durham n the match. Meanwhile, Worcestershire were surprise winners over Middlesex and Glamorgan matched leaders Nottinghamshire all the way at Cardiff. Michael Hogan’s 4-47 and centuries from Byrom and Northeast provided an opportunity to win, only for Clarke and James to ensure a draw. No records, no fireworks, no men in giraffe costumes. Just another day in the office.

Team of the Week: Lyth (Yor), Jennings (Lan), Alsop (Sus), Ackermann (Lei), Du Plooy (Der), Mulder (Lei), Tattersall (Yor +), J Overton (Sur), Harmer (Ess), M Parkinson (Lan), Rushworth (Dur)

Hampshire’s 100% start in One Day Cup

The first week’s fixtures in the Royal London One-Day Cup have generated the expected variety of trouncings and nail-biters, predictable and surprises. Hampshire are the only side to have won all three matches they’ve played, while in the North division, Worcestershire’s 100% record comes from only two yet is enough to top the table.

On the South coast, it’s been Riley Rossouw rather than Hashim Amla who has provided South African runs for Hampshire while Worcestershire’s best performances have come from the lower order. Somerset got off to a cracking start, thumping Surrey in double-quick time with Craig Overton’s 4-29 outstanding. An amazing 159 from the in-form James Hildreth helped defeat Glamorgan but his subsequent 87 couldn’t prevent a loss to Sussex for whom Luke Wright reached three figures. The county’s medium-pacer Ollie Robinson has also been one of the most consistent wicket-takers so far.

Poor Glamorgan. Despite the arrival of Colin Ingram for the white-ball season, they’ve yet to register a victory, falling an agonising two runs short against Middlesex. However, Kent sit below them in the South table despite two solid starts by Daniel Bell-Drummond. Gloucestershire are faring somewhat better, beating the Welsh as well as Essex along the way. Their H men, Hankins, Howell and Higgins have been especially useful with the bat.

Further north, another H man, Sam Hain, struck two centuries for Warwickshire while Paul Horton also struck 103 in Leicestershire’s opener at Northampton. However, for consistent run-making, you had to look at the Roses counties. Horton’s replacement at Lancashire, Keaton Jennings, racked up 278, while Tom Kohler-Cadmore accumulated 292, including 164 in Yorkshire’s 142-run win over Durham. His colleague Cheteshwar Pujara has also found form at last. Normally considered a red-ball specialist, the Indian star produced an impressive run of 82, 73 and 101 so it is perhaps surprising that Yorkshire have only one victory to their name.

It hasn’t been a great week for bowlers. Robinson’s team-mate Chris Liddle, Harry Gurney (Notts) and Lancashire’s young leg-spinner Matt Parkinson head the wicket table with nine apiece but the May sunshine has been kinder to the willow-wielders.

Nottinghamshire’s formidable squad looks tailor-made for retaining their title and they amassed an impressive 409-7 against Leicestershire. Samit Patel celebrated his new contract with a 63-ball century and a couple of wickets. However, they lost easily to Northamptonshire whose poor start in the Championship has been set aside to allow new confidence in 50-over cricket to take over. With Division One strugglers Worcestershire also riding high, it’s encouraging that there are no dominant counties across all formats. Long may it continue.

Team of the Week:

Jennings (Lan), Davies (Lan, +), Kohler-Cadmore (Yor), Pujara (Yor), Hildreth (Som), Hain (War), Bopara (Ess), Ingram (Gla), Berg (Ham), Parkinson (Lan), Robinson (Sus)