Vince looks for Hampshire to improve their scoring rates as T20 Blast season continues with trip to Lord’s

James Vince will be hoping for more boundaries as Hampshire travel to Lord’s this Saturday (2pm) aiming to move up the T20 Blast South group.
Joe Weatherley is Hampshire's top runscorer in the T20 Blast this season. Pic: Adam Davy/PA Wire.Joe Weatherley is Hampshire's top runscorer in the T20 Blast this season. Pic: Adam Davy/PA Wire.
Joe Weatherley is Hampshire's top runscorer in the T20 Blast this season. Pic: Adam Davy/PA Wire.

Thursday’s south coast derby loss to Sussex at The Ageas Bowl was Hampshire’s third defeat in four completed games in 2020.

They were also on course to lose at Kent before rain intervened.

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Hampshire have so far lacked anyone capable of regularly hitting boundaries - they only struck four fours and a six in 11 overs at Surrey, for example - and that cost them again against Sussex.

The hosts only managed 11 boundaries and no sixes as they fell 13 runs short of Sussex’s 159-5 total.

Hampshire were 96-2 after 12 overs, but could only manage another 50 runs in their last eight overs - well below usual T20 scoring rates.

‘We should have got closer than we did, if not got over the line,’ said Vince, who was back skippering Hampshire for the first time after international and family commitments.

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‘Going forward, those middle overs and at the end we need to get a bit better at

‘The guys are capable that’s for sure, but we’re not necessarily power hitters.

‘We need someone to go in and play a little cameo to keep the rate up.’

Hampshire have two batsmen in the competition’s top 20 runscorers.

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But it’s interesting to note that, of the top 20, Joe Weatherley (137 at an average of 27.4) and Tom Alsop (128 at 25.6) have the two lowest strike rates.

Weatherley has scored his runs at a rate of 121.23 per 100 balls while Alsop’s rate is 113.27.

The former has so far hit just nine fours and three sixes in his five innings, while Alsop has 16 boundaries and one six.

Weatherley faced 26 balls against Sussex on Thursday, scoring 25 - but without hitting a single boundary.

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When margins can be so tight in T20 games, the inability to regularly get the ball past or over the ropes has cost Hampshire dearly.

Sam Northeast - prior to Vince’s return Hampshire’s most senior batsman - has only scored 71 runs in five innings at a rate of 87.65, the second slowest rate of any batsman from any county who has 50 runs in the tournament.

The lowest rate belongs to team-mate Lewis McManus who has 56 runs from five innings at 84.84.

The truth is, though, that apart from Vince the county don’t possess any batsmen in the mould of Michael Lumb or Michael Carberry.

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Middlesex, in contrast, will open with Steve Eskinazi and Max Holden against Hampshire on Saturday.

Holden belted a 59-ball century in the win against Essex while Eskinazi is the joint leading runscorer in the tournament with 240 at a rate of 147.3.

Hampshire handed 22-year-old Calvin Harrison his debut on Thursday, due to the success leg spinners had enjoyed at The Ageas Bowl this summer.

Vince must decide whether to play two leggies - Mason Crane is the other - at headquarters while also hoping overseas star Shaheen Shah Afridi can start to justify the hype.

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The Pakistan international has so far conceded 67 runs in just seven overs - at 9.57 per over - without taking a wicket.

Hampshire have five games left and Vince admits they have to win most of them if they are to reach the quarter finals for the first time since 2017.

‘We have a run of games now and we are looking at winning about four to give us a chance,’ he declared.

‘We are still in the hunt. Hopefully we can learn quickly and get on a bit of a run.’