v Hampshire Pro40 @ The Rose Bowl Sunday 30 July 2006

Scorecard

Jusin has gone back to Oz and we need to get ourselves back in order for the 40 over competition after a very disappointing performance on Wednesday under lights at home.  Today we travel to the Rose Bowl to face Hampshire with a side that looks roughly the same - except for the welcome inclusion of Niel Edwards for the illustrious Australian.

PD Trego, NJ Edwards, CL White, RL Johnson, JC Hildreth, MJ Wood, WJ Durston, AR Caddick, AV Suppiah, CM Gazzard, CM Willoughby

Cameron has to get his side's belief in themselves back in some kind of order and has chosen to field first to let the stronger aspect of our game have a go first.  Loads of bowling in the side and maybe we'll see Peter Trego bowl today.

Carberry and Pothas go off like a runaway train as Caddy is flayed for 25 off his first 3.  The man of the past month, Charl Willoughby, does the usual and draws first blood with the wicket of Pothas who he skittles with the score on 9.  It looks like AC may not be bowled out in this game....until Arul Suppiah takes a blinder with Ervine at 41 and then the Cadmeister fights back with a sort of 'hat-trick'.

With the last ball of his fourth, the big man fools Carberry who spoons a slow ball back to the bowler, then RJ replaces Willow and goes for only 1 before Caddick bowls Benham down the leg side wth his first of the fifth before his captain runs out Lamb 3 balls later without scoring.  Suddenly the home side's roaring start ends with the loss of 4 wickets for 5 runs and our bowlers are well on top!!

When Mascarenhas goes at 56, silly innings really when Hampshire needed a steady hand, then we only really needed Warne and we would have been looking at a win requireing less than Kent got us out for!  But the mighty man from Oz holds up the rot until Suppiah gets him to plonk one into the hands of his coutryman White with the score on 93.  Arul kept the pressure up by getting Udal 12 runs later and his captain almost put the lid on it by removing Tremlett 2 balls later.  But Hampshire were not dead yet and a 50 run partnership for the last wicket made the score far more respectable before Trego got among the wickets by removing the middle order architect - Thornley.  156 all out and even then we gave them too many.

Nevertheless another solid performance from our bowlers.  Caddick came back after a shaky start, Willoughby did what he does and Suppiah's 2 for 20 were important.  We have to be able to win these games from this position and so a lot of pressure is on Wood and Edwards to get us into the winning position from the start.  A newbie and a man with very little confidence but loads of talent?  Well it has to be done boys!

Well they do get us off to a start!  Unfortunately, when Edwards is caught by Tremlett off Mascarenhas with 23 runs scored, he has only managed to make 5 runs off the 34 balls that he faced!  Matt is scoring no less quickly and even Cameron White is not exactly belting the score along!  On come the spinners, Warne and Udal are moving the ball and getting grip on what the radio says is a sub-standard surface.  Wood is giving Warne immense respect and White isn't taking any chances.  When he does take one, Pothas misses a possible chance but the mistake isn't too costly as the Somerset skipper is caught behind off Udal the very next ball for 33 off 54 balls - remarkably sedate for him!

Peter Trego comes out in his new place of number 4 in the one dayers - his role as a batsman taking precedence over his role as a bowler.  He seems to be taking on the role as he takes the score past 100 with his third boundary. But it doesn't last long enough and although he breathes a sigh of relief when he is dropped by the keeper, he wanders across his stumpe to the very next ball and we are 105 for 3 with the overs running out.  An iffy decision it seems, the radio is suggesting we should send in Johnno to smack a few and take the pressure off but the decision is to keep to the order and out comes James Hildreth.  The pressure is most definitely on the Vice Captain with the Hampshire spinners turning the screw with every dot ball, a self confident partner at the crease in desperate need of runs and the number of balls running out faster than the number of runs being scored!  This will go to the wire.

Matt keeps his head but the boundaries have well and truly dried up and the run rate is climbing as Udal, Warne and the occasional spinner Lamb are used to keep the runs tight.  Hildreth helps out but misreads one from Tremlett at 136 and leaves the last act to Wood and Durston.  (That might have been the time to send in a slogger because we had the wickets and didn't have the runs). At 21 off 3 overs the game is still in the hands of the home side, runs are coming in ones and 6 an over will not be enough.  It isn't until the last over that the leash slips a little and an exquisite cover drive from Wood changes the course of the game.  Eventually we win it off a single run off a wide with 3 balls to spare!

From no caution at all to far too much.  A dodgy pitch and a dodgy result but it is in our favour so it is a good one.  Credit to Matt for selling himself dearly but our batting is far from well.  We are still in the Pro40 though and that was the end result we required today.  Now it's off to Southend for the Essex return in the CC....let's hope for more happy endings.

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