Friends Provident Somerset v Hampshire Sunday 20th April
Match Report
By BBC Radio Solent's Sports Reporter Kris Temple at Taunton
Hampshire's Friends Provident Trophy campaign got off to a disappointing
start, with a six-wicket defeat to Somerset at Taunton. An unbroken
stand of 132 between Ian Blackwell (86*) and former Hampshire batsman
John Francis (48*) carried the home side to an ultimately comfortable
success with 14 balls to spare.
Hampshire's innings began sluggishly when Michael Carberry skied to
cover on 12, to be caught by Francis. John Crawley then followed shortly
afterwards with the score on 23, when he was run out by yards after a
misunderstanding with Michael Lumb. Lumb and Chris Benham then staged a
repair job, putting on 55 for the third wicket, before Benham was pinned
leg-before by a shooter from Peter Trego for 17. Fresh from hitting 82
in the Championship against Sussex, Lumb continued to anchor proceedings
before he was well caught at extra cover, three short of a deserved
half-century. From 78 for 2, Hampshire slipped to 96 for 5, before Nic
Pothas and skipper Dimi Mascarenhas came together, to put on 86 for the
sixth wicket. Pothas's knock of 55 came from just 53 balls and included
two sixes, while Mascarenhas made 53 before falling to an outstanding
catch from his opposite number Justin Langer. Hampshire were bowled out
for 221, with four balls of their innings to spare. Steffan Jones was
the pick of the Somerset bowlers, and probably deserved better than his
2 for 29.
In reply, the Somerset innings followed a similar pattern. They lost
star names Marcus Trescothick for 12, and Langer for 2, but from 30 for
2, wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter hit 49 to re-focus the home side's
run-chase. Needing 130 to win from the final 20 overs, the situation was
delicately poised, before the match-winning partnership of 132 between
Blackwell and Francis saw Somerset home by six wickets in the 48th over.
Blackwell's knock of 86 came off just 67 balls.
Afterwards Hampshire captain Dimi Mascarenhas told BBC Radio Solent "We
just didn't get enough runs at the end of the day. There was a little
bit in it, but we got out to some poor shots and a poor run-out, so
we've only got ourselves to blame. We probably could've got another 50
runs if we'd batted better up top, and that sort of total wasn't out of
our reach. Blackwell is such a powerful hitter and these boundaries are
so small, so he's a very hard man to bowl to. He played a seriously good
knock, and John (Francis) played really well too. "
The full audio interview with Dimi Mascarenhas is available to listen to
from Monday morning, by following this link to BBC Radio Solent
Hampshire's next fixture is a trip to Yorkshire in the LV County
Championship starting on Wednesday.
The BBC Radio Solent's Sports Team are providing ball-by-ball commentary for all of Hampshire's One Day matches throughout the season.
Join former Hampshire player Kevan James and his team to listen to all the action.
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