Majestic Royals leave Panthers reeling

Middlesex 162-5 (20 ov) lost to Hampshire 164-3 (15.1 ov) by 7 wickets
(Middlesex 0 pts, Hampshire 2 pts)

A third t20 half century of the season from Dawid Malan wasn’t enough for Middlesex Panthers as they were comprehensively beaten at Richmond.

Malan made 77 from 66 balls and lasted right through to the end of the innings while brief cameos from Adam Voges (28) and Adam Rossington (26) pushed the Panthers’ total up to 162-5.

Defending champions Hampshire made a blistering start to their reply, racing to 83-0 after just six overs, and opener James Vince went on to hit 84 off 49 balls.

The Royals went on to win with more than four overs to spare, with two late wickets from Isleworth-born spinner Gurjit Sandhu reducing the winning margin.

Middlesex struggled early on, losing Paul Stirling and Joe Denly in the first six overs of their innings and struggling to get above six an over.

Malan and Voges helped pick up the run rate in the middle overs, with the Australian scoring 15 off one Liam Dawson over.

Vince dislodged Voges after a stand worth 55 and Middlesex were indebted to another useful partnership between Malan and Rossington to gain a respectful final total.

However, Hampshire made batting look so much easier in the opening overs, Vince and Michael Carberry launching the Panthers’ bowling all round the ground.

Carberry hit Kyle Mills for 24 in the third over and Sandhu received similar punishment from Vince shortly afterwards as Hampshire chalked off half their target from 38 balls.

One-time England opener Carberry smashed 43 off only 16 deliveries but was run out backing up after Ravi Patel had deflected a drive on to the stumps.

Vince and Jimmy Adams took Hampshire virtually all the way to their target before both fell in the space of three balls to Sandhu, with Sean Ervine hitting the winning boundary the very over.

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