Match Preview: Hampshire v Somerset, Vitality Blast

After claiming two excellent Vitality Blast victories from three contests last week, Hampshire will be looking to further solidify their place in the top four of the South Group when they take on Somerset at the The Ageas Bowl on Friday.

Victories against Essex Eagles and Glamorgan, paired with a nail-biting final over defeat against Kent Spitfires on Sunday, has ensured James Vince’s side occupy fourth spot at the half-way stage and with the home stretch not far away, they’ll be hoping to put on a good show in front of a bumper home crowd and secure a positive result this week.

Hampshire Squad:

A 14-man squad has been announced for Friday’s fixture with all-rounder Ian Holland coming into the squad in place of Mason Crane who is unavailable after suffering a side-strain.

Both victories last week, and even Sunday’s closely contested match at Beckenham, brought plenty of positives which will boost Hampshire’s chances of a bounce-back win against Somerset. With the bat, James Vince led from the front, scoring a destructive 87* off just 54 balls at Chelmsford to begin the week before striking 44 off 47 balls in tricky conditions against Kent Spitfires. His 208 runs in six innings’ is good enough to see the skipper sit amongst the top 10 run-getters in the competition so far.

Kyle Abbott, Chris Wood and Liam Dawson have all been instrumental with the ball in recent weeks too with the trio picking up 25 wickets at a combined average of 19.2 so far this summer. Abbott leads the way in that group in terms of wickets taken, his 10 scalps pushing him to 10^th in the list of top Blast wicket-takers in 2019.

The Opposition:

There is no denying that Somerset have within their T20 squad some of the finest batting talents on an English and global scale, look no further then there imposing opening partnership of 20-year-old rising star Tom Banton and superstar Pakistan international Babar Azam, who only two weeks ago struck a superb, nonchalant 98 at Taunton in a last over defeat to Hampshire in the reverse fixture last month.

Both Banton and Azam are also the second and third highest run scorers of the tournament so far with the duo combining for more than 500 runs in six games. Their prolific scoring coupled with the experience of batsman James Hildreth and Peter Trego certainly makes you raise an eyebrow at a relatively poor July campaign for the Taunton side, but also gives no surprise as to how they were able to chase down 204 with relative ease in their clash against Surrey last week.

Jamie and Craig Overton - who on their day always have to capability to make things difficult for top and middle orders - are sure to be a handful with the ball alongside West Indian Jerome Taylor. The experienced paceman is the leading wicket taker for the county so far with 8 wickets in six matches.

Full Hampshire Squad:

Coverage:

A live stream, ball-by-ball coverage and match highlights will be available via the 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 The Ageas Bowl: http://ow.ly/O85t30p4xiB

Tickets:

Tickets for Friday’s match-up against Somerset at the The Ageas Bowl can be purchased online via the link below, via the Hampshire Cricket App, over the phone on 023 80472002 (option 1), or by visiting the The Ageas Bowl’s Ticketing & Membership Office via normal working hours.