Adams desperate to claim FP Trophy
Jimmy Adams modestly shrugged off his man-of-the-match effort that steered Hampshire to Lord's and beamed: Now we want that trophy.
The Hawks opener cracked a fabulous 78 with the bat and then took two stunning catches in the field to walk off with the post-match Champagne as Hampshire eased to a 64-run semi-final success at Lancashire
that booked a Friends Provident Trophy final showdown with old foes Sussex.
But despite his efforts, Adams insisted he would have quite happily played a bit-part role and still seen his side book their place in the July 25 showpiece.
A delighted Adams said: 'It's unbelievable to be in a Lord's final.
'I've never been anywhere close to a final like this before so I'm over the moon.
'One of us was going to do something and I'm fortunate that I got a few runs this time.
'On the whole, that is something we've been really strong at – someone has always done something when it's been needed.
'But it won't matter in the final if it's my day or someone else's. As long as we win the trophy, that's all that matters to us.'
Adams and fellow opener Michael Lumb got the Hawks off to a terrific start, putting on 159 for the first wicket, before Adams was out to a terrific one-handed reflex catch to Faf du Plessis.
But Adams soon had his own back on du Plessis with a full-length one-handed grab, reminiscent of Andrew Strauss' famous Ashes catch from 2005, to send the Lancashire batsman on his way back to the pavilion.
The normally reserved Adams admitted his fist-pumping roar of delight might have been a bit more of an exuberant celebration than normal.
He smiled: 'I haven't had too many catches this year, but it turned around for me this time.
'He is a fantastic fielder and took a great catch to get me out, so to get him out was good. I will take that!
'I was very happy but a little bit embarrassed by my celebration. I made sure I toned it down for the second one!'
While his second catch – to remove the dangerous VVS Laxman with a sharp two-handed catch way above his head – was perhaps not as spectacular as his first effort, it was every bit as important.
Adams said: 'We knew we wanted to give our bowlers good support. If we did that, we knew we would be there or thereabouts.
'We were a little bit disappointed with our total and you have got to take your chances in the field in big games like this one.
'Thankfully, we did when it mattered and the chances came along.'
While Hampshire's 271 was at least 30 runs shy of what it should have been after such a flying start, Adams believed Lancashire came back well – and was now counting down the days to Lord's.
He said: 'With 20 overs to go, we were looking for more than 300. But they bowled very well, they fielded fantastically, but we got the result and that's all that matters.
'We've got lots of games coming up so we won't have much time to think about it. But we will be ready when it comes around.'
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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