Match Preview: Somerset & Gloucestershire v Hampshire Hawks, Vitality Blast

Somerset v Hawks
Vitality Blast (South Group)
Thursday 23rd June (7pm start)
Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton

Gloucestershire v Hawks
Vitality Blast (South Group)
Friday 24th June (6:30pm start)
The Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol

Following back-to-back home fixtures, Hampshire Hawks go on a West Country road trip, stopping off in Taunton first before heading up to Bristol as they take on Somerset and Gloucestershire.

Somerset defeated the Hawks first time round at The Ageas Bowl but lost out to South Group leaders Surrey off the final ball at The Oval in their most recent outing.

Gloucestershire meanwhile are currently in third place on 12 points after a five-run victory against the reigning champions Kent, with the Hawks yet to face the 'Shire in the Vitality Blast this year.

Hampshire Squad

The Hawks have named the same 15-player squad as in the previous fixture against Surrey.

James Fuller put in an all-round performance in the defeat against Surrey last time out – scoring 39* with the bat and recording figures of 2-31 with the ball.

Mason Crane and Liam Dawson also took two wickets each, while James Vince (30) and Joe Weatherley (29) added some more runs to their tallies.

Full Hampshire Squad

Somerset

2021 Season In Numbers

• 2th in South Group
• Leading run scorer: Will Smeed - 385
• Leading wicket taker: Marchant de Lange - 18

2022 Season In Numbers

• 2th in South Group
• Leading run scorer: Rilee Rossouw
• Leading wicket taker: Lewis Gregory, Josh Davey - 12

Gloucestershire

2021 Season In Numbers

• 6th in South Group
• Leading run scorer: Glenn Phillips - 500
• Leading wicket taker: Benny Howell - 15

2022 Season In Numbers

• 3rd in South Group
• Leading run scorer: Glenn Phillips - 265
• Leading wicket taker: David Payne - 17

Head-to-Head

Hampshire's record in Vitality Blast v Somerset

P: 22, W: 7, T: 1, L: 14

Last 5 meetings:

• May 30 2022 | The Ageas Bowl | South Group | Somerset won by 4 wickets
• Sept 18 2021 | Edgbaston | Semi-Final | Somerset won by 2 wickets
• July 9 2021 | The Ageas Bowl | South Group | Hampshire won by 75 runs
• June 25 2021 | CACG Taunton | South Group | Somerset won by 7 runs
• Aug 9 2019 | The Ageas Bowl | South Group | Somerset won by 63 runs (DLS)

Hampshire's record in Vitality Blast v Gloucestershire

P: 11, W: 8, L: 2, NR: 1

Last 5 meetings:

• July 2 2021 | The Ageas Bowl | South Group | Hampshire won by 10 runs
• August 13 2019 | Bristol | South Group | Gloucestershire won by 7 wickets
• August 17 2018 | The Ageas Bowl | South Group | Hampshire won by 6 wickets
• July 28 2017 | Bristol | South Group | Hampshire won by 24 runs (D/L method)
• Aug 9 2019 | The Ageas Bowl | South Group | Somerset won by 63 runs (DLS)
• July 14 2015 | Cheltenham | South Group | Gloucestershire won by 5 wickets

Tickets

Tickets for the Hawks’ match against Somerset on Thursday are available by clicking here.

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

Coverage

Somerset and Gloucestershire will be live streaming each game and a link to these streams will be available in the free-to-download Hampshire Cricket App and at www.ageasbowl.com/cricket.

Both the Hampshire Cricket App and www.ageasbowl.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 Taunton: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2636177.

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