Hampshire Hawks continued their dominance in the T20 Blast, as they smashed Durham by 26 runs. This crucial victory ensured them qualification for the all-important Finals Day. The final fixture at Chester-le-Street was equally dramatic, with Toby Albert scoring a hat-trick to prove the matchwinner with his fine performance proving instrumental to victory.
Albert has been in superb form during the whole tournament. He scored 68 runs in only 37 balls and hit four sixes while doing so. As Lynn’s opening partner, the pair made a blistering start to set up Hampshire’s target. They scored an astonishing 112 runs from only 58 deliveries! Their menacing opening spell turned out to be key in setting Durham a difficult target to chase down.
Hampshire’s innings began with Albert swinging Callum Parkinson’s left-arm spin over long-off for the first six of the match. Ollie Robinson dismisses Albert after he edges a ball from Matt Parkinson. Taking full advantage of the chance, Albert went three further yards, smashing two more sixes off James Neesham in the sixth over. His explosive hitting took Hampshire to a daunting total of 221 runs, for the loss of eight wickets. This is the most runs scored by any touring team at Chester-le-Street.
The 92-run success of Hampshire’s run chase was even further assisted by contributions from Chris Lynn and Hilton Cartwright. Lynn’s steady partnership with Albert laid the groundwork for a significant score, allowing Cartwright to add valuable runs later in the innings.
In reply, Durham found it difficult to keep up with Hampshire’s scoring rate. Captain Alex Lees departed for a disappointment 26 runs. Durham opener Graham Clark’s dismissal was even worse, with Clark shuffling across his stumps and being bowled to leave Durham reeling at 13-3. Until Robinson swooped with a masterclass of a performance himself – 60 runs off 33 balls. Durham weren’t able to make the target and finished their innings at 195 for six.
James Vince, debriefing after the match, said how crucial their openers getting off to a flyer was.
“It was pretty comfortable in the end, the feedback was it was a pretty good pitch. Obviously the start our openers got off to settled any nerves and got us ahead of the game early on. We knew with that total if you took wickets and got that rate to about 12 or 13, then you can really squeeze the game.” – Hampshire captain James Vince
Durham captain Alex Lees acknowledged their difficulty in chasing down Hampshire’s substantial total, noting that they fell short despite hopes of restricting Hampshire’s scoring.
“I felt if we could try and get out of that Powerplay and nick a wicket, we could hold them back a bit. Obviously they got to a score which was a step too far.” – Durham captain Alex Lees
Hampshire Hawks wrap it up and advance to the semi-final! That quarter-final will see them face the Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Edgbaston on Saturday September 13. It should be a cracker of a game, as they look to progress in their pursuit of T20 Blast glory.
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