Match Preview: Gloucestershire v Hampshire Hawks, Vitality Blast

Gloucestershire v Hampshire Hawks
Vitality Blast (South Group)
Friday 7th June 2024 (6:30pm Start)
Seat Unique Stadium

Hampshire Hawks take on Gloucestershire at the Seat Unique Stadium on Friday in their first away match of their 2024 Vitality Blast campaign.

James Vince's side picked up their first victory of the competition last time out, with an exciting win over Kent Spitfires at Utilita Bowl. They now sit in fifth in the South Group and are on of seven sides on two points from their opening two games.

Gloucestershire are also on two points, with a win over Essex and a defeat to Sussex Sharks in their first two matches.

The two sides have met just 14 times in T20s with Gloucestershire coming out on top on just three occasions.

Hawks Squad

Hampshire Hawks have named an unchanged 14-player squad for the match against Gloucestershire.

James Fuller, Liam Dawson and Benny Howell all made contributions with both bat and ball during the win against Kent Spitfires.

Joe Weatherley continued his good start with a score of 49, while Chris Wood's 2-19 represented the Hawks' best figures from the victory.

Ali Orr will be out for six to eight weeks after breaking his arm during the opening match with Surrey, while Tom Prest remains side-lined with a fractured shoulder.

Full Hampshire Squad

Gloucestershire

Squad: Jack Taylor (c), Zaman Akhter, Cameron Bancroft, James Bracey, Ben Charlesworth, Marchant de Lange, Miles Hammond, Ed Middleton, David Payne, Ollie Price, Josh Shaw, Ajeet Singh Dale, Matt Taylor, Graeme van Buuren, Beau Webster

Gloucestershire are one of just two sides in the South Group who are yet to win a T20 title, with their best finish coming in 2007 when they lost in the final. They haven’t made it out of the group stage since the truncated 2020 season, but they will be hoping for a change of fortune in this year's competition.

New head coach Mark Alleyne has had a positive impact in red-ball cricket since joining and it will be interesting to see if that continues into the shorter formats of the game. Jack Taylor captains the side which boasts a number of talented players. Matt Taylor and David Payne have led the bowling attack so far this year, with seven and five wickets respectively, while James Bracey and Ben Charlesworth are the pick of the batters. An overseas trio of Beau Webster, Cameron Bancroft and Zafar Gohar will also be useful options throughout the Vitality Blast.

2023 Season In Numbers

• 7th in South Group
• Leading run scorer: Ben Charlesworth (299)
• Leading wicket taker: Tom Smith (17)

Head-to-Head

Hampshire's record in Vitality Blast v Gloucestershire

P: 14, W: 11, L: 3, NR: 1, A: 1

Last 5 meetings:

• July 2 2023 | The Ageas Bowl | South Group | Hampshire won by eight wickets
• June 20 2023 | Seat Unique Stadium | South Group | Gloucestershire won by eight wickets (DLS)
• July 1 2022 | The Ageas Bowl | South Group | Hampshire won by 15 runs
• June 24 2022 | Seat Unique Stadium | South Group | Hampshire won by nine
• July 2 2021 | The Ageas Bowl | South Group | Hampshire won by 10 runs

Tickets

Tickets for the Hawks’ match against Gloucestershire on Friday are available by clicking here.

Coverage

Gloucestershire will be live streaming the match and a link to this stream will be available in the free-to-download Hampshire Cricket App and at www.utilitabowl.com/cricket.

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

Weather Forecast

Please follow the link to view the latest weather forecast for Bristol: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2654675