Rain denies Hampshire home cleansweep
Rain thwarted Hampshire's bid to complete a clean sweep of their Friends Life t20 South Group home fixtures as Friday's clash with Middlesex was washed out.
15-Jul-2011
Rain thwarted Hampshire's bid to complete a clean sweep of their Friends Life t20 South Group home fixtures as Friday's clash with Middlesex was washed out.
After winning all seven of their previous matches at the Rose Bowl, the Royals were expected to finish their campaign with victory over bottom-placed Middlesex but did not get the chance to complete the streak.
Hampshire skipper Dominic Cork opted to bat after winning the toss and his side reached 116 for 2 before rain brought a premature end to proceedings after just 13 overs. The match had already been reduced to 18 overs per side when umpires Nick Cook and Peter Hartley decided there was no further chance of any action.
Neil McKenzie and Sean Ervine were in the process of putting on an unbroken stand of 49 when the weather intervened, with the former finishing unbeaten on 38. Ervine needed only 14 balls to reach a spectacular 34, smashing five fours and a six before being denied the chance to help his side build what was shaping up to be a very challenging total.
Hampshire, who will play Durham in the tournament's quarter-finals, lost opener Jimmy Adams when he lofted Steven Crook to Scott Newman and James Vince after he drove Neil Dexter to Tim Murtagh.
