Match Preview: Kent Spitfires v Hampshire, Vitality Blast

Hampshire will be looking to begin their 2020 Vitality Blast campaign with an important victory when they face Kent Spitfires in the competition curtain-raiser at Canterbury on Thursday, with the match starting at 2pm.

Led by Sam Northeast, the side will be hoping for a strong start in the truncated competition which consists of 10 group games, with the nature of the condensed schedule likely to favour teams who start positively.

Team News:

A youthful 14-man squad has been named for the fixture with eight players having played age-group cricket for Hampshire. New signing George Munsey is also included in the travelling party.

Liam Dawson continues to be sidelined due to injury while James Vince remains unavailable as a precautionary measure until after the impending birth of his second child.

Rilee Rossouw will unfortunately miss this summer's competition as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused significant difficulties with the availability of players who do not permanently reside in the UK, and he too is unavailable.

Full Hampshire Squad:

Behind-Closed-Doors:

Hampshire’s Vitality Blast fixture against Kent Spitfires at Canterbury will be played behind-closed-doors, with no fans in attendance.

Coverage:

A live stream will be available for the match and a link to this stream will be available at both www.ageasbowl.com/cricket and on the free Hampshire Cricket App.

Both www.ageasbowl.com/cricket and the Hampshire Cricket App will also host a live match centre with scorecard, statistics and insight available throughout the match.

Weather Forecast:

Please follow the link for the latest weather forecast for Canterbury: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2653877