Yorkshire CCC edged out by Hampshire in Vitality Blast
YORKSHIRE’s only previous meeting with Hampshire in T20 cricket came in 2012 when they lost the final by 10 runs in Cardiff.
They have not reached that stage before or since, that fixture serving as an historical outlier.
A tweak to the tournament this year means that each club plays two games against teams from outside its group.
And after losing to Gloucestershire of the Central and West group at Headingley in May, Yorkshire went down by two wickets to Hampshire in Southampton on Friday night, the South Group leaders winning off the penultimate ball in a tense finish.
On a night when Jonny Bairstow was the sole Yorkshire survivor from that 2012 final, and James Vince, Liam Dawson and Chris Wood the only ones for the hosts, Yorkshire were bowled out for 150 in 19.5 overs after choosing to bat.
A.J. Tye top-scored with 44 from 17 balls with five sixes and two fours, injecting impetus on a used pitch on which run-scoring was never easy. Hampshire were coasting at 75-2 in the eighth over of the chase but lost their way badly. The equation boiled down to six needed from the last three balls, Wood clubbing Tye for four down the ground and then hoisting him for six over long-on.
Bairstow had perished to the opening ball of the third over, skying Wood straight up in the air. Adam Lyth fell in the last over of the powerplay, lofting Scott Currie to Baker at short-third, Yorkshire 42-2 after six overs.
Will Luxton lofted James Fuller to deep backward-square after striking 37, then Sam Whiteman was brilliantly caught by Vince running back from mid-off off Currie. Wood took two wickets in three balls when Moeen Ali was caught around the corner and Matty Revis held at long-on (96-6 in the 15th).
Tye hit Sonny Baker for three successive sixes, but Faheem Ashraf lobbed Currie to Vince at mid-off, then Hassan Ali was run out after a mix-up. Baker yorked Tye in the final over and trapped last man Dan Moriarty.
Hassan struck with the fifth ball of the Hampshire chase, Toby Albert edging to Lyth at slip. Joe Weatherley raced to 44 from 19 balls before Moriarty bowled a sweeping Vince in the last over of the powerplay, which Hampshire ended on 64-2.
Moriarty struck twice in two balls to trigger Hampshire’s slide, Dawson lazily lofting to Revis at deep cover and Ben Mayes pinned in front.
After striking three successive fours off Jafer Chohan, Weatherley gave it away by lofting the leg-spinner to Tye at deep mid-wicket, departing for 63 from 33 balls.
Tristan Stubbs and Hilton Cartwright, the overseas pair, added 35 from 37 but this was a game that Hampshire seemingly did not want to win.
Tye returned to have Cartwright caught one-handed down the leg-side by Bairstow before bowling Fuller, Hampshire falling to 133-8 when Currie lofted Tye to Faheem at mid-off.
But Wood – Hampshire’s most successful bowler in that 2012 final – had the last word.