Match Preview: Kent v Hampshire, Specsavers County Championship

This week saw Hampshire pick up their fifth victory of 2019’s Specsavers County Championship campaign, Kyle Abbott stealing the headlines against Somerset with record figures of 17-86, the best all-time County Championship figures by a Hampshire player.

James Vince’s side will be hoping to sign off 2019 in style against Kent next week,  who are also heading into the season’s final match on the back of a win, beating Yorkshire by 433 runs at Headingley.

Hampshire Squad:

A 12-man squad has been named for the fixture at Canterbury, starting on Monday.

James Vince and Liam Dawson, fresh from centuries against title chasing Somerset will be hoping to continue their stellar form heading into the last game of the season.

The dangerous seam trio of Kyle Abbott, Fidel Edwards and Keith Barker are all fit and will be looking to add to their phenomenal joint wicket tally this season.

Tom Alsop is likely to continue to bat at three, Tom has replaced Rilee Rossouw for the last three games of the season as he continues to make his comeback from injury.

The Opposition:

After achieving promotion to Division One last season, Kent have enjoyed a positive comeback campaign in the top tier, picking up 166 points from their 13 matches – to sit fourth in the table.

Kent will likely need strong showings from Zak Crawley, Daniel Bell-Drummond and skipper Heino Kuhn, the trio all dangerous with the bat.

Another likely threat is veteran all-rounder Darren Stevens, who at the age of 42 scored 258 runs and took seven wickets in this week’s match against Yorkshire.

Matt Milnes and Harry Podmore have been crucial with the ball, taking 106 wickets between them so far this season.

Full Hampshire Squad:

Coverage:

There will be ball-by-ball coverage and match highlights available via the free-to-download Hampshire Cricket App and at ageasbowl.com/cricket.

There will also be ball-by-ball commentary available on BBC Radio Solent online at bbc.co.uk.

Weather Forecast:

Please follow the link for the latest weather forecast for Canterbury: https://bbc.in/2knsfwK

Tickets:

Tickets for all four days of Hampshire’s match against Kent can be purchased via the Kent website: https://www.kentcricketshop.co.uk/event_listing.aspx