Match Preview - Gloucestershire v Hampshire - Royal London One-Day Cup
25 April 2019
Gloucestershire will be the latest team to try and end Hampshire's 100% start to the season in the South Group of the Royal London One-Day Cup when the sides meet at the Ageas Bowl on Friday (11.00).
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Gloucestershire starting XI - Dent(c), Hankins, Roderick(wkt), Bracey, Howell, J Taylor, Higgins, van Buuren, Smith, Payne, Liddle
The holders have begun their defence of the trophy they won last year with wins over Kent, Glamorgan and Middlesex and are only second in the group because of Somerset's run rate.
Gloucestershire add Matt Taylor - who was ill on Tuesday - and Miles Hammond to the side that beat Kent at the Bristol County Ground in a performance much more to the liking of head coach Richard Dawson.
"The response to the defeat by Middlesex at Lord's was the most pleasing aspect" he said. "Ryan Higgins and David Payne did well with the new ball and we generally took wickets by bowling in good areas.The fielding was also better and Gareth Roderick's direct hit for the run out was a massive help."
"In the chase we spoke about someone making a match winning contribution, which Gareth did backed up by James Bracey. We tried to not let the run rate get above six an over and paced the reply so there wasn't too much pressure on us."
Gloucestershire Squad:
Dent (c), Hankins, Roderick, Bracey, Howell, J.Taylor, Higgins, van Buuren, Smith, Payne, Liddle, M.Taylor, Hammond
The sides last met in a List A game at Southampton in 2017. Before that, you have to go back to 2008, when Alex Gidman made a century but Hampshire chased a D/L target of 240 in 30 overs to win by five wickets, and Dawson says the current Division 1 side are a well balanced unit.
"They are a very good team with all bases covered in terms of their seam attack, their spinners and depth in batting, plus they have international experience too" he went on. "If they play well, you have to be right on top of your game to get parity or better against them."
"They played three slow bowlers against Middlesex to take pace off the ball, and they are good spinners in their own right. Southampton is a big ground so you have to connect well if you try to attack them. They are another side, like Surrey, who have a big squad but we'll go there and have a good crack at them. It's a game where we have a lot to gain."
