Dave Allen: India In Hampshire

By Dave Allen

The first Indian tourists came to Britain in 1911 but played no Test Matches and did not visit Hampshire. In 1932 they lost their first and only Test in this country and also lost to Hampshire by an innings at Southampton. The tourists also visited the north of the county to play the Army at Aldershot. The next tour, four years later, saw India win a thriller at Bournemouth by just two runs with Phil Mead stranded on 53 not out.

The match in 1946 was a poignant moment as first-class cricket returned for the first time since 1939; the tourists beat the county by six wickets at Southampton and also played the Combined Services at Portsmouth. There were eight further visits to Hampshire between 1952 and 1986 in the days when the tourists regularly met all the counties – in Hampshire the Indians won two and drew the others but then in 1990, after a series of declarations, Hampshire won for the first time in 58 years. The last meeting at Southampton was again drawn but not before Hampshire’s Kevan James set his world record of four wickets in four balls and a century.

Since our move to the new ground the tourists have played only once against the county, in 2002, when, with the pitch still ‘settling in’ the batsmen on both sides struggled – indeed in the second innings the tourists held back Dravid and Tendulkar to protect them but still won by 66 runs. Since then, as the pitch improved the Indians have come to play international matches.

The first of these in 2004 was during the Champions Trophy, when India had a comfortable victory over Kenya. There followed two ODIs against England, the first in 2007 when centuries for Alastair Cook and Ian Bell and figures of 10-2-23-4 by James Anderson took England to victory by 104 runs. Four years later, England won again with Cook this time undefeated on 80 as England won by seven wickets. The last of India’s ODIs on the ground came during the World Cup when they defeated Afghanistan in a thrilling finish. India posted 224-8 and the Afghans with seven wickets down, needed 12 to win from the last four balls at which point Shami took a hat-trick!

Today’s IT20 is the first for India on our ground but in 2014 and 2018 they played Test Matches here against England – both won by the home side. In the first, England’s captain Alastair Cook arrived under some pressure, but received terrific and sympathetic support from the The Ageas Bowl crowd as he was dismissed for 95; Ian Bell (167), Garry Balance (156) and Josh Buttler (85) took England to 569-7 declared, the highest Test score on the ground until England went 14 better against Pakistan in 2020. Jimmy Anderson with 5-53 and in the second innings Moeen Ali (6-67) then bowled England to victory by 266 runs with the main resistance from Ajinkya Rahane (54 & 52*). In 2019 Rahane became the first and so far, only, Indian Test cricketer to play for Hampshire as an overseas professional.

In 2018 England batted first and were in trouble at 86-6 until Sam Curran with 78 took them to 246. India with a century from Pujara took a lead of 27, while Moeen Ali was again their main problem with 5-63. England’s second knock in a very even game left India with 245 to win and half-centuries from Kohli and Rahane took them halfway with three down but Ali with 4-71 ensured an all-out total of 184 and an England victory by 60 runs.

The Hawks secured their place in the Vitality Blast for the eleventh time after a nailbiting win against Gloucestershire at The Ageas Bowl, and backed that up with an 'el clasicoast' victory over Sussex Sharks at Hove.

Now a quarter-final clash with Birmingham Bears is the only thing standing between Hampshire and a ninth T20 Finals Day.

Tickets for the quarter-final at Edgbaston are available now via the link below.

To mark the Hawks’ qualification for the knockout stages of this summer’s Vitality Blast you can make a 25% saving on a 2022 Hampshire Hawks replica shirt - simply use the discount code 'QUARTERFINAL'!

What's more, £5 from every replica shirt sold will be donated to the NHS - so you can show your support for the Hawks and raise vital funds for charity at the same time!