Hampshire find boundaries hard to come by as they remain bottom of their T20 Blast group after losing to Surrey

Surrey took over top spot from Kent after their bowlers successfully defended a target of 147, writes IAIN McCULLOUGH.

In the first Blast match to be played in front of a crowd at the Ageas Bowl in 22 months, the home side looked to have given themselves a great chance of securing a second win of the season after holding Surrey to 146-7 after winning the toss and electing to field.

However, a Jamie Overton-inspired Surrey restricted the Hawks to 126-8 to seal a 20-run victory with the former Somerset all-rounder finishing with figures of 2-14 from four outstanding overs and Gus Atkinson pitching in with 3-21.

Hampshire only managed to hit six fours in their 20 overs, plus a six.

On a sluggish pitch, Hampshire's attack also bowled magnificently with the visitors scoring just 36 runs in the final seven overs of their innings.

A fantastic spell from Scott Currie halted Surrey's hopes of posting an imposing total when he dismissed Jamie Smith, who top-scored with 59, and England batsman Ollie Pope (22) within three balls.

Currie grabbed 3-21 from three overs with Chris Wheal taking two wickets and Mason Crane and Chris Wood one apiece.

D'Arcy Short and Hawks skipper James Vince got the hosts off to a flying start in their response as they scored 23 off the first three overs.

However, Australian opener Short's struggles with the bat continued when he thumped a full toss straight back at Overton to be caught and bowled for 13.

Short's departure brought 18-year-old debutant Tom Prest to the crease but the talented teenager struggled to get bat on ball against Surrey's experienced bowling attack as the visitors put the brakes on the Hawks' run-scoring as they limped to 40-1 after the powerplay.

Veteran spinner Gareth Batty then grabbed the crucial wicket of Vince (19) when he rattled his stumps.

Overton's tight bowling in conjunction with Atkinson and giant New Zealand quick Kyle Jamieson shut down the Hampshire batsmen with boundaries hard to come by as Prest departed for 20 - off 24 balls and with no boundaries - and Colin de Grandhomme for six.

Joe Weatherley tried manfully to up the run rate with a glorious shot that found the ropes, only to find himself back in the pavilion after the next ball thanks to a stunning flying catch on the boundary from Pope off Overton.

Hampshire scored just one four in the final five overs as wickets continued to fall, leaving the Hawks needing 27 runs from the final six balls for victory as Surrey closed out an impressive victory.

Hampshire are next in action at home to Gloucestershire on Friday.