Vitality Blast Preview | Gloucestershire vs Hampshire Hawks
6 June 2024
Following a week off from any first-team cricket, Gloucestershire face Hampshire Hawks in the Vitality Blast at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol on Friday night.
The match is Gloucestershire’s third of the T20 competition and one in which they will be targeting a return to winning ways. In their last match against Sussex Sharks, Gloucestershire fell to a narrow three-wicket defeat with the last ball of the innings despite a number of impressive individual performances.
With two home matches to come, first against the Hawks on Friday and second against Sussex Sharks on Sunday, Gloucestershire will be hoping to convert their positive start to the Vitality Blast season with yet more success on home soil this weekend.
Bowlers David Payne and Matt Taylor have started the season well with 12 wickets between them from the opening two matches.
VIEW FROM THE CAMP
TEAM NEWS
Mark Alleyne selects a 15-man squad for the match against Hampshire Hawks with Zaman Akhter added to the same matchday squad that was selected to face Sussex Sharks last Friday.
Spinner Tom Smith misses out due to a back injury as does Zafar Gohar with a hamstring injury, while Tom Price and Dom Goodman continue their return to full fitness.
Your 15-man squad to face Hampshire Hawks: J Taylor*, Akhter, Bancroft, Bracey†, B Charlesworth, de Lange, Hammond, Middleton, Payne, O Price, Shaw, Singh Dale, M Taylor, van Buuren, Webster
OUR OPPONENTS
Hampshire Hawks have won one and lost one of their opening two fixtures and sit in fifth place in the South Group table.
Their first win of the T20 season came in Southampton on Sunday 2nd June against Kent Spitfires in a match that saw Joe Weatherley top-score for the hosts with 49 from 32 balls.
LAST MEETING
Gloucestershire came out on top the last time the two sides met in Bristol in 2023, securing a win via the Duckworth-Lewis method following a rain delay midway through the match.
The eight-wicket win came thanks to a scintillating innings from both Ben Charlesworth and Ben Wells, the former scoring 29 from 15 balls and the latter scoring 43 from 22 balls.
In the return fixture at Hampshire in July, the Hawks bowled Gloucestershire out for 105 and successfully chased the target inside 15 overs.
TWO CHANCES LEFT TO WATCH BLAST IN BRISTOL
With Gloucestershire v Somerset in June now a sell-out, there are only two chances left to watch T20 cricket in Bristol. The Shire face Hampshire Hawks on Friday before hosting Sussex Sharks on Sunday for Purple Family Day.
