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Match Preview: Roderick targets two wins from South Coast double-header

24 June 2016

Gareth Roderick says Gloucestershire can take a big step towards reaching the NatWest T20 Blast quarter finals if they can win their South Coast double-header this weekend.

Buoyed by their thrilling, penultimate ball victory over Somerset last Friday, Glos take on Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl on Saturday before making the short trip to Arundel where they will face Sussex Sharks on Sunday.

Gloucestershire go into the weekend joint-second in the South Group with four wins from six matches and a 100% record on their travels.

Roderick, who struck the winning runs in the “Cider Derby” said: “Our aim is to try and qualify for the next round as quickly as we can. Once you get on a roll in T20 you just try to keep it going.

“They will both be tough matches but if we can win both - or even two out of the next three - we will put ourselves in a great position to qualify.”

Glos beat Hampshire in the Royal London One-Day Cup earlier this month thanks to hundreds from Michael Klinger and Chris Dent.

They lost to Sussex Sharks at Bristol in their first Blast match on Duckworth/Lewis. The ending to the match proved controversial with the umpires taking the players off halfway through an over. With the Duckworth/Lewis calculation on the scoreboard showing the total needed at the end of the over it left Glos no way of knowing the required ball-by-ball score they required.

Gareth said: “I am not sure how different Hampshire’s team will be from the 50 over game but we will take confidence from that win.

“Sussex are a strong team and batted very well at Bristol with Ross Taylor making 90 odd (93 not out) but we have improved since then.

“I think one of the main positives is that with both bat and ball we have got guys that put their hand up and perform when we need them to across all formats.

“We have a pretty tried and trusted formula that works for us and we will try and stick to that. Guys like Benny (Howell), Smudge (Tom Smith) and Kieran (Noema-Barnett) have shown how good they are bowling in the middle overs and that is a real strength for us.

“In the T20s we have won some tight games this year which we might have lost last season. I think that is down to the belief we took from coming through some close finishes in the Royal London One-Day last year.”

Head coach Richard Dawson makes one addition to the squad named for the Somerset match last week with David Payne returning.

Gloucestershire Squad:  Klinger (c), Marshall, Cockbain, Dent, Howell, Noema-Barnett, Roderick (w), J Taylor, Smith, Van Buuren, Tye, Miles, Norwell, M Taylor, Payne

Hampshire Cricket                                                             

Having reached T20 Finals Day for the past six seasons Hampshire are currently languishing second bottom of the South Group with just one win in seven matches.

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent director of cricket Giles White said: “It's disappointing as we're really proud of our T20 cricket and it hasn't clicked up to now. We've got to turn up to each game from here and put in performances.”

Hants match v Glos will be West Indian allrounder Darren Sammy’s (pictured) final appearance for the club. They also boast a number of other dangerous players including Pakistan powerhouse Shahid Afridi and England allrounder Liam Dawson. Captain James Vince is absent due to England duty.

Hampshire Squad

Shahid Afridi, Lewis McManus, Sean Ervine (c), Adam Wheater (w), Liam Dawson, Mason Crane, Tom Alsop, Tino Best, Gareth Berg, Gareth Andrew, Michael Carberry, Darren Sammy.

Hampshire v Gloucestershire Opta Facts

• Hampshire have won all three of their home games against Gloucestershire.
• Hampshire have won three on the bounce at home; they have not been on a longer streak since an 11 game spell which ended in 2011.
• Gloucestershire have won four of their last five matches (L1).
• Benny Howell (Gloucestershire) has recorded more dot balls than anyone else this season (55).

Head-to-Head

Sussex Sharks

Sussex go into Sunday’s match level on points with Gloucestershire but having lost one fewer match. The Sharks will be without allrounder Chris Jordan who is with England. There are also doubts over batsman Ross Taylor who has missed their current County Championship game with a hamstring injury.  There is still no news on Bangladesh bowler Mustafizur Rahman’s arrival and with stand-in David Wiese having flown out to the Caribbean Premier League, Sussex could go in to the match with Glos without an overseas player.

Sussex Squad (possible): Will Beer, Danny Briggs, Ben Brown(w), Craig Cachopa, Harry Finch, George Garton, Matt Machan, Tymal Mills, Chris Nash, Phil Salt, Ajmal Shahzad, Ross Taylor, Luke Wright (c).

Sussex Sharks v Gloucestershire Opta Facts

• Sussex Sharks have won three on the bounce versus Gloucestershire, despite losing the toss on each of those occasions.
• This will be the second time Sussex Sharks have entertained Gloucestershire at Arundel; the hosts claimed a six wicket win previously in July 2011.
• Sussex Sharks have however alternated between a win and a loss across their four previous games at the venue; they lost to Somerset there in their most recent match (2014).
• Luke Wright is 14 balls away from facing 4,000 in T20 cricket.

Head-to-Head

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