Hampshire Hawks ended a run of five games without a win in the Vitality Blast to revive their hopes of qualifying from the South Group with an emphatic 62-run win over Sussex Sharks at Hove.
Sussex could have gone second with a victory but they lost their way in the power plays. Hampshire crashed 64 in theirs and went on to post 196-8 while Sussex lost three wickets in the first four overs of their reply and never recovered.
Nathan McAndrew came in at No 8 and top scored with an unbeaten 31 but Sussex were bowled out for 134 in the 17th over.
Hampshire had been put in and their total of 196-8 owed much to an explosive start by skipper James Vince – the Blast’s all-time leading run scorer – and Australian debutant Chris Lynn.
They put on 84 from 46 balls together including 64 in the powerplay with Lynn becoming only the third player to score a fifty on his Blast debut, before both fell in successive overs.
Vince (34 off 22 balls) toe-ended to deep mid-wicket where Harrison Ward held a difficult, swirling catch but that was nothing compared to the sensational one-handed effort the leaping Ward clung on to in the covers in the next over to get rid of the dangerous Lynn.
In what was his first T20 innings since January 11 Lynn rode his luck on occasion but 51 off 27 balls, including three sixes and five fours, ended up being the cornerstone of Hampshire’s win.
Hampshire struggled to maintain their early momentum as Sussex’s quicker bowlers varying their pace effectively, none more so than the impressive Henry Crocombe who finished with 2 for 32.
McAndrew picked up two wickets in the final over and finished with 3 for 32, his first wicket coming when James Coles held a superbly judged catch in the stiff breeze to remove Toby Albert (15).
Hylton Cartwright (24) and Benny Howell (25 not out) got Hampshire to a total which was 19 above par at Hove this season and their bowlers soon exerted control.
Ward wafted at an away-swinger and was taken at slip to give Chris Wood his 200th Blast wicket before two wickets in Scott Currie’s first over further undermined the Sharks.
Tom Clark lost his middle stump playing across a straight one and there was another piece of brilliant fielding when Cartwright ran out Daniel Hughes with a one-handed throw aiming at one stump.
Howell and Liam Dawson then used their experience in the middle overs to make sure there was no way back for Sussex.
Howell, varying his pace effectively, removed James Coles and Fynn Hudson-Prentice in successive overs and Vince held a good catch at extra cover to get rid of Sussex captain John Simpson to reward Dawson and leave Sussex with no way back from 69-6 at halfway.
McAndrew and Danny Lamb added 37 for the seventh wicket but it was a bad night for Sussex.
Man of the match Benny Howell said: “We are pleased with that win. Sussex is a hard place to play and we came here after three losses before the break so we’re pretty happy with how we played.
“We’re going to have to scrap in the next five games if we’re going to qualify but it’s a good start. I felt I left a few runs out there when we batted but I was happy to help get us to a decent total and it came out nicely when I bowled.”
Sussex captain Tymal Mills said: “It was a disappointing result. We played brilliantly at Kent on Friday and came into the game confident.
“We dragged it back pretty well to keep them under 200 because it’s a good wicket and not the biggest ground but we fell well short when we batted and I thought we could have made a better fist of it.
“There’s a long way to go but we’re still pretty well placed in the group and we’ve still got a lot of players playing really good cricket.”
