Hampshire Hawks beat Surrey in a dramatic T20 Blast encounter at The Oval. Through the shower, they masterfully used the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method to secure their win. The Hawks put together a powerful performance, reaching 63 without loss to secure victory. Rain soon stopped play again, and they were already more than double the DLS par of 48 runs after 8.2 overs. This crucial win constituted Hampshire’s second victory over Surrey in their previous 11 meetings.
Hampshire Hawks impressed with a Scott Currie Player of the Match performance. He was at the front and centre of all the action that saw their entire batting order expertly and brutally dismantled. He picked up three vital wickets, removing England international Chris Jordan and out-of-form opener Ollie Pope.
Even with all the interruptions from heavy rain, the game went ahead, with Surrey batting first. The home team was 43–1 at the end of the six-over powerplay. Opener Jason Roy was the next big contributor for Surrey, scoring 37 runs before falling. Ollie Pope was out for a duck and only 11 runs in the final test. This lowered his average to a minuscule 8.3 through three games at the top of the batting order.
Currie had a great individual play to strike out Pope. He smartly tempted the Surrey opener into jumping across his stumps in an attempt to scoop, and was clean bowled as a result. Currie’s superb bowling continued to impress as he clean bowled Ollie Sykes for one. He later bowled out Roy Jordan for eight runs, highlighting a dominant performance on the turf. The Surrey innings came to a close with 141 runs for the loss of seven wickets.
In reply, Hampshire eased into their chase with a strong start from both openers, Vince and Albert, well set at the crease. Vince remained unbeaten on 33 runs from 28 deliveries, while Albert provided support with a score of 28 off 22 balls. Their continued collaboration left Hampshire in a prime position when the downpour decided to make its presence felt.
The game cut short and in somber fashion, visibly leaving many players with a sense of unfairness. Most importantly, they thought that the fun of competitive gameplay had been forfeited. Zak Crawley took to X to share his disappointment over the impact of bad weather on the result of the match.
“At times it felt like a really good wicket, at other times it was a bit of a challenge. I think that was quite competitive in the end, we felt it would have been a 50-50 game so it was a shame not to get back out there.” – Zak Crawley
It was their recent match against Surrey that provided Hampshire Hawks with an invaluable confidence boost. In Houston, they’re preparing for yet another action-packed schedule over the next several weeks. The defeat not only shook their confidence but raised the expectations for their future performances.
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