Match Preview: Hampshire Men v Leicestershire Foxes, Metro Bank One Day Cup

Hampshire Men v Leicestershire Foxes 

Metro Bank One Day Cup

Friday 15th August (11am start)

Utilita Bowl

Hampshire Men welcome familiar opponents Leicestershire Foxes to Utilita Bowl for what promises to be an exciting Metro Bank One Day Cup encounter.

This fixture carries extra significance as Leicestershire have enjoyed the upper hand in recent encounters, ending Hampshire's campaigns in both the 2024 quarter-finals at Grace Road and beating them in the 2023 final. It's the perfect opportunity to settle the score on home soil.

Captain Nick Gubbins arrives in exceptional form, having already amassed 244 runs in three matches this summer - including a career-best 144 not out against defending champions Glamorgan.

Hampshire Squad

Hampshire have named a 13-player squad for their fourth One Day game against Leicestershire Foxes at Utilita Bowl.

Kyle Abbott and Brad Wheal return to the squad. Tilak Varma played his final game for Hampshire in the previous fixture against Worcestershire.

Full Hampshire Men squad

Leicestershire Foxes

Captain: Peter Handscomb

2024 Position: Semi-finals

2024 Most Runs: Peter Handscomb (539)

2024 Most Wickets: Tom Scriven (18)

Why they can win the competition: Winners in 2023 and semi-finalists last year, Leicestershire are a side brimming with confidence and no shortage of quality. Current man-of-the-moment Rehan Ahmed will be otherwise engaged, but overseas batting stars Peter Handscomb and Shan Masood and explosive opener Sol Budinger will compete for the spotlight in his absence. Why would they not fancy themselves for more 50-over glory?

Player to watch: After a relatively modest contribution to the Foxes’ Vitality Blast campaign, Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood will be keen to make his mark in this competition, playing a format in which he has enjoyed considerable success, averaging 52.48 with 15 hundreds. That could make the left-hander a dangerous opponent.

Young gun: Josh Hull may be unavailable due to The Hundred, but Leicestershire can replace him with another 6ft 7ins fast bowler in Alex Green, who may still be growing at just 18 years old. Genuinely quick, Green took four wickets in three appearances in the competition last season and has further underlined his potential for England Under-19s against their India equivalents this summer.

Final thought: The 2023 Metro Bank One-Day Cup Final will be forever remembered for wicketkeeper-batter Harry Swindells producing the match of his life, making a career-best 117 not out to rescue his side from 89 for six and set up an unlikely Foxes victory. It is a little poignant then, on the eve of this year’s tournament, that the Leicester-born player has had to announce his retirement from cricket at the age of just 26 because of a persistent finger injury.

Head-to-Head

Hampshire Men’s record in the List A matches v Leicestershire Foxes:

Last five meetings:

• 16th August 2024 I Uptonsteel County Ground I Leicestershire won by 3 wickets
• 16th September 2023 I Trent Bridge I Leicestershire won by 2 runs
• 13th August 2023 I Utilita Bowl I Leicestershire won by 4 wickets
• 6th August 2014 I Utilita Bowl I Leicestershire won by 6 wickets
• 3rd May 2009 I Utilita Bowl I Hampshire won by 46 runs

Tickets

Tickets for Hampshire Men’s One Day Cup match against Leicestershire Foxes are available here.

Coverage

A live stream will be available for the match at https://www.utilitabowl.com/cricket/, along with a live match centre with the scorecard, statistics and insight available throughout the match.

Weather Forecast

Please follow the link to view the latest weather forecast for Utilita Bowl: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2637487