FROM BOTTOM OF THE GROUP TO THE BRINK OF THE GREATEST YEAR IN HAMPSHIRE HISTORY
This time next week, James Vince’s squad could be double champions ...
Hampshire aim to complete one of the most amazing turnarounds in modern county cricket history this weekend and take the first step to what would be ‘something pretty special’.
James Vince’s side are among four southern counties competing for the 2021 T20 Blast silverware on Finals Day at Edgbaston.
Hampshire face Somerset in the opening semi-final (11am) on Saturday with the winners taking on Kent or Sussex in the final. It is the first time since the tournament started 18 years ago that the last four are all southern.
Back in late June, the thought of Hampshire qualifying for the county’s eighth Finals Day in 12 seasons was, frankly, laughable.
Vince and co were rock bottom of their qualifying group after nine of their 14 matches following a home loss to Surrey. They had won just once, lost five and seen three rained off.
Asked to chase 147 for victory against Surrey, Hampshire could only muster 126-8 - hitting just six fours and a six in their 20 overs. It was their 12th T20 defeat in 15 completed matches, a dire run stretching back to 2019.
Put bluntly, there seemed no end to their miserable run in a competition they used to excel in (reaching six consecutive Finals Days between 2010 and 2015 inclusive).
Yet a few weeks later, after winning their final five games, they had sneaked into fourth place, qualifying for the quarter-finals, on run rate.
Hampshire had gone into their final group match against Glamorgan sitting sixth in the table. They needed to chase down fourthplaced Surrey’s run rate to have any chance of progressing - and then hope Sussex or Gloucestershire lost their matches later in the day.
Hampshire’s fifth straight win moved the 2010 and 2012 champions into the top four and they stayed there when Gloucestershire subsequently lost at Somerset.
After being set an imposing 185 target for victory by Glamorgan, Hawks needed to usurp that total inside 14.1 overs to leapfrog fourth-place Surrey.
Remarkably, they did it in just 13 overs with D’Arcy Short (69 off 30 balls) and Joe Weatherley (43 not out from just 13 deliveries leading a sensational run chase.
That wasn’t the end of Hampshire’s incredible run, though. Drawn away in the last eight to Northern group winners Nottinghamshire, the defending champions, the Hawks produced another stunning fightback against the odds.
Hampshire had won quarter-finals at Trent Bridge in 2012 and 2014, but the chances of a repeat looked remote after they could post only a meagre 125-9 after being asked to bat first.
Notts looked to be cruising towards a fifth Finals Day appearance in six years at 66-1 in the eighth over, but collapsed to 123 all out.
It maintained Hampshire’s amazing T20 record of having won all eight quarter-finals they have been involved in.
However, they haven’t been so consistent in reaching the final - winning two (in 2010 and 2012, the two years they lifted the trophy) and losing five of their previous last-four ties.
Asked if expected to be competing in Finals Day, Vince remarked: ‘Probably not. ‘We didn’t really get going until the last five games.
‘We’d had a couple of games which we lost from winning positions, and in the end we managed to find ways to win games.
‘This (Finals Day) is a bit of a bonus, bearing in mind how the group stage went. We feel we have nothing to lose.
‘There’s a great belief and character in the dressing room that we can win from any position. Apart from the skills, that belief can play a massive part.’
The coming week could well go down in Hampshire’s history as the greatest finish to a season ever.
Not only could they lift the T20 silverware, victory against Lancashire at Liverpool next week will see them crowned County Champions for only the third time in 126 years.
‘It’s amazing that we’re competing on two fronts at this time of year,’said Vince.
‘Across all formats we have found ways to win.
‘Against Yorkshire we hung in there for a draw and then we beat Warwickshire after being bowled out before lunch on the first morning. We found a way to win that one and then we beat Notts - we’ve done all we can.
‘It’s uncharted territory for this squad.
This (Finals Day) is a bit of a bonus ... there’s a great belief we can win from any position James Vince
‘It’s a massive week. Hopefully we can find an extra push from some tired bodies to achieve something that would be pretty special.’
It has been a real team effort in both competitions.
Vince (371 runs at 33.72) and Short (316 at 26.33) have scored well at the top of the T20 order. Short’s runs will certainly be missed at Edgbaston.
But Joe Weatherley is Hampshire’s second highest runscorer in 2021 with 339 at 33.9. And he has also compiled his runs at a faster rate - 141.84 compared to Short (138.59) and Vince (138.43).
Teenager Tom Prest, replacing Colin De Grandhomme, top scored with 44 in the quarter-final at Trent Bridge while Lewis McManus, James Fuller and Liam Dawson can all provide quick middle order runs.
Bowling wise, Hampshire’s leading wickettakers this year are young Scott Currie (17 at 12.58) and fellow seamer Brad Wheal (16 at 19.6).
Among those at Finals Day, only Kent’s Matt Milnes (18) has taken more T20 Blast wickets this year than Currie.
Mason Crane (15) and Chris Wood (11) have also been regular wickettakers, while Dawson (9) offers a second spin option after Crane.
Vince has enjoyed a stellar 2021 so far, with two franchise wins to his name.
He was the Sydney Sixers’ leading runscorer when they retained the Australian Big Bash title, and last month skippered Southern Brave to the Hundred silverware.
On a personal front, he finally compiled a senior England international ton
Now, Vince has the chance to become the first Hampshire skipper to win two trophies in one season.
Only Richard Gilliat has previously led the county to the Championship title and a one-day victory (in the John Player League).
There have been some titanic battles between Hampshire and Somerset in T20 history.
The pair met at three successive Finals Days
between 2010-2012 - Hampshire winning the final by virtue of having lost fewer wickets; Somerset winning in a Super Over decider in the semi-final; and Hampshire claiming a six-wicket semifinal success en route to their second T20 trophy at Cardiff.
Vince and Wood played in all three of those games - Liam Dawson missed only the first one - with James Hildreth having appeared in all of them for Somerset.
Two England Test players have been added to the Somerset squad that will face Hampshire in the opening semi-final at Edgbaston.
Craig Overton and Jack Leach return after missing the quarter-final home win against Lancashire.
Somerset booked their place at Finals Day after thrashing the Red Rose county by seven wickets.
An unbroken fourth wicket stand of 102 in just eight overs between Tom Abell (78 not out) and Tom Lammonby (47 not out) saw the hosts win with 11 balls remaining after being asked to chase 185.
Hampshire have a lot to thank Lammonby for; they would have finished fifth had Gloucestershire won their final group game against Somerset.
Somerset sank to 89-4 off 14.2 overs, but Lammonby - batting at No 6 - thrashed a stunning 90 off just 36 balls to help his side post 183-7.
The visitors fell 23 runs short and Hampshire were in the quarter-finals.
Hopefully we can find an extra push to achieve something pretty special
James Vince