RESULT
South Group, Northwood, July 09, 2025, Vitality Blast Men
(19.4/20 ov, T:188) 188/7

Hampshire won by 3 wickets (with 2 balls remaining)

Report

Eskinazi returns to the ranks in vain as Hampshire squeeze to victory

Former captain makes 94 but ends up on the losing side at Northwood

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
09-Jul-2025 • 9 hrs ago
Stephen Eskinazi powered the Middlesex innings with 87 off 37 balls, Middlesex vs Gloucestershire, Vitality Blast, Radlett, May 26, 2022

Stephen Eskinazi powered the Middlesex innings but couldn't get them over the line  •  Getty Images

Hampshire 188 for 7 (Fuller 43*) beat Middlesex 187 for 8 (Eskinazi 94, Currie 4-32) by three wickets
Former Middlesex all-rounder James Fuller returned to haunt his old team with a crucial unbeaten 43 from 26 balls as Hampshire squeezed over the line at Merchant Taylors' School to keep their Vitality Blast hopes alive.
The Hawks were under pressure at 157 for seven, needing 31 from 13, when the final ball of Noah Cornwell's stint sailed over Fuller for four byes plus a no-ball - and momentum swung as the batter capitalised on the resulting free hit to crack six off Leus du Plooy.
Stephen Eskinazi, who stood down as Middlesex's T20 captain earlier in the day, led the way for his side with an outstanding knock of 94 from 48, sharing partnerships of 69 from 40 and 82 from 51 with Kane Williamson and Max Holden respectively.
But Hawks seamer Scott Currie (four for 32) removed both Eskinazi and Holden, triggering a middle-order collapse as Middlesex shed seven wickets for 34 and fell below the 200-plus total that had looked likely.
Put in to bat, the home side made swift progress in the powerplay as Williamson (25 from 22) flicked Sonny Baker neatly over long leg for six and Eskinazi plundered 20 from Eddie Jack's first over.
Benny Howell made the breakthrough with his fourth delivery as Williamson was bowled swinging across the line, but runs continued to flow from Eskinazi's bat and the opener raised his third half-century of the tournament from 23 balls with a straight-driven six.
Holden (33 from 26) played second fiddle, taking 18 balls to register his first boundary, but Eskinazi's timing and placement was exemplary as he cut Currie for successive fours, with a hundred looking inevitable.
However, Eskinazi was denied when Currie returned to rip out his off stump - the first of five wickets in 17 balls as Middlesex faltered during the death overs, clambering above 180 thanks to a couple of late boundaries from Luke Hollman.
James Vince (27 from 17) began briskly when Hampshire replied, pulling Zafar Gohar for six and punching a string of back-foot boundaries off the seamers before he fell to a low diving catch at mid-off by opposite number Du Plooy.
The new Middlesex skipper took a skier to dismiss Tom Prest in the next over and, when Toby Albert presented Hollman (two for 21) with a routine return catch, the visitors were uncertainly placed at 68 for three.
Joe Weatherley batted aggressively, clubbing both Gohar and Ryan Higgins for straight sixes in his 41 from 22 but, when he failed to counter Hollman's googly, the Hawks were back under pressure.
Cornwell and Higgins picked up further wickets, but the left-armer's lapse tilted the contest back towards Hampshire and Fuller finished the job with two balls to spare, hitting Higgins for successive boundaries.

AskESPNcricinfo Logo
Instant answers to T20 questions
Hampshire Innings
<1 / 3>

Vitality Blast Men

North Group
TeamMWLPT
LAN107328
DUR107328
BEARS116524
NOR106424
NOT115620
LEI105520
WOR104616
DER103712
YOR103712
South Group
TeamMWLPT
SOM119236
SUR107328
GLA106424
SUS105422
KEN115522
HAM104518
GLO104616
MID92512
ESS11196