Hampshire lose for third time in Twenty20 Cup

Hampshire Hawks were dumped out of the Twenty20 competition after losing to the Middlesex Crusaders at Uxbridge CC on Monday. Despite winning their opening match against Sussex at the Rose Bowl they have not come to terms with the new format. Hampshire will be hoping to restore some pride when they take on the group winners Surrey Lions at the Rose Bowl today (Tuesday - 5.30pm).

One player that has shone in this tournament is James Hamblin, again he gave the Hawks a good start with a quick fire 30 off 21 balls. A spell however of 4 wickets for just 13 runs put a skid on the batting. Dimitri Mascarenhas and Nic Pothas rallied with a half century stand, the former hitting the only six of the innings, but the total of 134 for 7 was woefully short on this small ground.

Paul Weekes and Andrew Strauss proved that point posting a 72 run opening stand, and from then on it was one way traffic. Alan Mullally bowled a tidy three overs, but to no avail as the Crusaders coasted to an 8 wicket victory with 5.1 overs to spare.