Smiles All Round as Royals Win in Richmond

Report from Hampshire's Friends Life t20 match against the Middlesex Panthers at Richmond.

Middlesex Panthers v Hampshire Royals
Friends Life t20
Wednesday 27 June 2012
Old Deer Park, Richmond

Summary: Hampshire beat Middlesex by four wickets
Middlesex: 156-2
Hampshire: 160-6 (19.2 ovs)
Scorecard
Concurrent Table

Panthers Team
Denly, Stirling, Malan, Rossington, Dexter*, Simpson†, Murtagh, Berg, Rayner, Roland-Jones, Smith
Royals Team
Adams, Vince, Katich, McKenzie, Ervine, Maxwell, Dawson, Mascarenhas*, Wood, Bates†, Briggs

An unbeaten 75 from Sean Ervine, supported by a valuable 40 from Simon Katich ensured Hampshire cancelled out a second assault of the Friends Life t20 campaign from Middlesex batsman Paul Stirling at Richmond.

Stirling, who scored 71 at The Ageas Bowl just over a week ago, put on 82 not out to help his side set the Royals 157 for victory.

But, having come together on 41-3 the experienced Hampshire duo of Katich and Ervine put on a partnership of 69 to steady the ship and, crucially, the Zimbabwean was there at the end to guide his team to a four-wicket win with as many balls to spare.

The Royals, having won two in a row, move to third in the table and will take a great deal of confidence into Friday night’s match against Essex at Chelmsford.

 

Hampshire all-rounder Glenn Maxwell had said in pre-match interviews that Hampshire would have some “tricks up their sleeve” and, with Dimi Mascarenhas having won the toss and elected to bowl, the early change in tactics saw left-arm spinner Liam Dawson open the bowling from one end with some success.

But the Panthers have some tricks of their own – no one more so than one-day specialist, Stirling.  And it was he who, off Dawson’s second over, hit a four and a six, following up with some similar treatment of Mascarenhas in the next to help his side enjoy a purple patch wherein they took 38 runs off overs 4-6.

He was already showing the early signs of repeating his reverse-fixture heroics but Hampshire did do a good job of slowing him down on the way to his 50. They rotated the spin of Maxwell – who was particularly frugal with final figures of 0-18 off four overs – and Danny Briggs with the pace of Chris Wood to limit the number of boundaries on a very small outground with a bumpy outfield.

Indeed, Maxwell’s maiden over 14 appeared to have wrestled the game back into Hampshire’s favour – an impression emphasised when Wood clipped Adam Rossington’s (19) off-stump in the 15th; Middlesex 105-2.

But a final sprint from Stirling and Dawid Malan, in which they scored 26 off the last two overs gave them a competitive score, meaning Hampshire needed at least one batsman to step up a la Stirling. In the end they had two.

The early loss of both openers brought Katich to the crease for his first T20 match of the season, deputising for Michael Carberry who missed out with a knee injury. And the Australian immediately announced his arrival with a four down the ground, followed by an excellent slog-swept first maximum of the innings.

But it wasn’t until he was joined by Ervine [both pictured left] that the reply really got going. Katich drove Ollie Rayner to the ropes to bring up the team 50 and by the 10-over mark the Royals were 70-3. The relative safety of both landmarks sparked Ervine, in particular, into action.

A four and six from him meant 11 came off the next over before a further two sixes, both blasted into the pavilion meant he’d caught Katich up on 38*; the Royals 97-3.

His half-century came up off 34 balls (including three fours and those two sixes) and, although he would lose Katich – holing out to long off – and two further partners, Ervine played an innings that showcased all of his class and experience, keeping his team to slightly more than a run-a-ball until the penultimate over.

Then, a six, bigger in its importance than it was in actual distance, meant the Royals needed just two off the final six balls; no problem for Ervine, who casually blasted the ball for four.

Words: Simon Vincent
Images: LMI Photography

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