Awesome foursome! In-form Hampshire move into T20 Blast South group top three after victory against Glamorgan in Cardiff

Having been put into bat, the visitors eked out a competitive total in the face of a strong Glamorgan bowling display, reaching 134-4 from their 20 overs with Joe Weatherley top scoring with 46.

On a tricky surface, Glamorgan never really got on top of the chase as regular wickets kept their scoring rate in check.

Some lusty blows from Dan Douthwaite at the back end of the innings gave them some hope but when he became the fourth victim of Brad Wheal’s career best 5-38 the game was over.

Having sat bottom of their South group after four games, Hampshire are now third after eight - the top four qualifying for the quarter-finals.

The Glamorgan bowlers were fantastic inside the PowerPlay overs, conceding just 32 runs from the first six overs. As has so often been the case over his 10 years with the club, it was Michael Hogan who was the most difficult to get away - taking 1-5 off his two PowerPlay overs.

The wicket Hogan claimed was that of Australian Ben McDermott who attempted to scoop a ball to the fine leg boundary but managed to hit it into his stumps.

Prem Sisodiya shared the new ball with Hogan and he was also extremely difficult to get away, his left arm spin going for just seven runs from his two PowerPlay overs while also picking up the wicket of Tom Prest.

A 49-run stand between James Vince and Joe Weatherley set a foundation for Hampshire to set a defendable total on a pitch that rarely looked easy for scoring. Vince made a run-a-ball 44 before he was bowled by Andrew Salter while Weatherley top scored with 46 not out.

Weatherley was well supported in the death overs by Toby Albert who followed up a career best 24 not out against Essex on Thursday with an undefeated 21 from 15 balls in this match.

Glamorgan’s pursuit of the 135-run target got underway much as the Hampshire innings did with the bowlers on top.

Captain David Lloyd was bowled by Chris Wood in the first over as the home side struggled to get things going against the new ball.

With Wheal claiming the wicket of the dangerous Colin Ingram inside the first six overs, Glamorgan limped to 29-2 as the fielding restrictions were loosened.

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Ex-Hampshire batter Sam Northeast, Glamorgan’s leading run scorer in this competition this season, was the mainstay of their innings once again. But when Wheal claimed the wickets of Kiran Carlson and Eddie Byrom in the space of two balls, the pressure on Northeast to make a telling contribution increased.

Chris Cooke had made it to 18 when he was well caught by Vince off Mason Crane. Northeast had reached 36 from 40 balls when he edged one through to wicket-keeper McDermott just three balls later with Crane claiming the second wicket of his spell.

With Northeast gone and the required rate heading towards 12 an over, it was left to the lower order to attempt to get them over the line. Despite the best efforts of Douthwaite (21), the home side finished 10 runs short of victory.

‘It has been a tough start to the season, but the boys have turned it around nicely so it was good to get another win on the road here,’ said Wheal.

‘The pitch wasn’t ideal for us. Obviously quite tough to start batting on that, we had to sort of assess the situation and see what sort of score would be competitive. Luckily, the boys put together a score that we could defend.’

Hampshire now take a short break from T20 cricket, returning to four-day action with a home game against Yorkshire starting at The Ageas Bowl tomorrow.

Hampshire are second in Division 1 of the LV= Insurance County Championship, just two points adrift of Surrey with both counties having played six games.

Vince’s men return to the T20 format against Kent at The Ageas Bowl next Friday.