SOUTHAMPTON (Kent won toss): Hampshire Hawks (2pts) beat Kent Spitfires by five wickets
WHO needs Shane Warne? Hampshire won their second successive Twenty20 Cup match since their inspirational captain left them to take a break before the start of the Ashes series, Shaun Udal, Warne’s stand-in, fittingly scrambling the winning run off the final ball, to the delight of a near-capacity crowd of 9,000 at the Rose Bowl.
Hampshire would have won anyway because they had lost fewer wickets with the scores level, thanks to a fifth-wicket stand of 72 in eight overs between Nic Pothas and Lawrence Prittipaul last night. Pothas, pacing his innings to perfection, finished unbeaten on 58 off 55 balls, while Prittipaul hit 35 off 24 balls to sentence Kent to their fourth defeat in four matches.
Matthew Walker gave Kent a cracking start, scoring 31 before Justin Kemp, his partner, had faced a ball, but once he was caught at mid-wicket after striking 35 off 19 balls with two sixes and four fours, the visiting team lost their momentum.
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Kemp, who has yet to live up to his big-hitting reputation with Kent, managed only one boundary in his 17 and it was left to Michael Carberry to keep the scoreboard moving while wickets fell regularly at the other end. Carberry made 56 off 43 balls, but none of the other batsmen got into double figures.
SHOW-STOPPER: Greg Lamb with a wicket in each of his four overs.
SHOW-DOWNER: Craig McMillan top-edging a reverse sweep to short fine leg.