Brad Wheal celebrated a five-wicket haul and Tom Alsop cracked an unbeaten 74 as Hampshire thrashed Barbados A at the Kensington Oval.
Chasing down a meagre Barbados total of 109-9, they won by seven wickets with 15 balls to spare in the ‘plate’ twenty20 play-off between the two sides who lost their opening games in the four-team Caribbean-based tournament, writes Mike Vimpany.
Hampshire finished in third place and had the consolation of losing to the eventual tournament winners, Nottinghamshire, who edged a thrilling two-run win over Northants in an exciting final.
Wheal, who made four County Championship appearances for Hampshire last summer, wrecked the Barbados top order, came on as first change and rifled out Kyle Corbin (3), Kemar Brathwaite (13) and Shayne Moseley (5), two of them caught behind by Adam Wheater.
He later returned to bowl the ‘death overs’ at the end of the Barbados innings and removed top scorer Craig St Hill (31) – to a spectacular low diving catch in the deep by Lewis McManus – and Jerome Jones (12), the pair having added 43.
Wheal finished with figures of 5-18 – a timely reminder to Scotland selectors who left him out of their failing ICC World Cup squad in India.
Brad Taylor (1-27) and Joe Weatherley (1-15) each took a wicket as Barbados struggled to 109-9 – the St Cross Symondians spin all-rounder dismissing the dangerous left-hander Marlon Welcome-Goodman (19).
Wheal led the Hampshire players off the field – and then sat back and enjoyed watching Tom Alsop put the Barbados A bowling attack to the sword.
He lost Michael Carberry (1), caught off the bowling of West Indies Under-19 World Cup winner Chemar Holder in the second over, but then proceeded to dominate.
Alsop had top scored with 31 in Hampshire’s earlier nine-run defeat by Nottinghamshire and continued in a positive manner to lay down an early marker for a place in the top six for next month’s Ageas Bowl County Championship opener against Warwickshire.
With support from Wheater (11) and Jimmy Adams (10), the 20-year old left-hander powered shots through the covers and off the back foot, striking a six and six boundaries to guide Hampshire home.
Will Smith made 14 not out as Hampshire cruised home with 15 balls to spare.
Hampshire coach Dale Benkenstein was delighted that two of the promising young players in the squad had played key roles in the victory over Barbados A.
“Brad and Tom really took their opportunities well and, although our first twenty20 match back home is a long way off, their performances have already given us something to watch and to think about.
“Tom’s been playing in South Africa for the past two months. Mentally coming out to Durban was a very good thing for him, learning to stand on his own two feet, which he doesn’t find easy.
“It was good for him to get through that and getting a score like that, at such a prestigious venue, will do his confidence the world of good.
“Brad (Wheal) is just getting better and better, as is Brad Taylor, who has emerged from the Under-19 World Cup as a very good cricketer, both as a batsman and a spin bowler.”
The Hampshire squad trained at the Bajan outpost of Isolation Cavaliers – a venue for the Hampshire Over-50s on their last Caribbean trip – yesterday.
They began a two-day match against Nottinghamshire at the Windward Sports Club in the east of the island on Tuesday (1000) and will play Barbados A again at the Bridgetown Oval on Friday and Saturday.
Chasing down a meagre Barbados total of 109-9, they won by seven wickets with 15 balls to spare in the ‘plate’ twenty20 play-off between the two sides who lost their opening games in the four-team Caribbean-based tournament, writes Mike Vimpany.
Hampshire finished in third place and had the consolation of losing to the eventual tournament winners, Nottinghamshire, who edged a thrilling two-run win over Northants in an exciting final.
Wheal, who made four County Championship appearances for Hampshire last summer, wrecked the Barbados top order, came on as first change and rifled out Kyle Corbin (3), Kemar Brathwaite (13) and Shayne Moseley (5), two of them caught behind by Adam Wheater.
He later returned to bowl the ‘death overs’ at the end of the Barbados innings and removed top scorer Craig St Hill (31) – to a spectacular low diving catch in the deep by Lewis McManus – and Jerome Jones (12), the pair having added 43.
Wheal finished with figures of 5-18 – a timely reminder to Scotland selectors who left him out of their failing ICC World Cup squad in India.
Brad Taylor (1-27) and Joe Weatherley (1-15) each took a wicket as Barbados struggled to 109-9 – the St Cross Symondians spin all-rounder dismissing the dangerous left-hander Marlon Welcome-Goodman (19).
Wheal led the Hampshire players off the field – and then sat back and enjoyed watching Tom Alsop put the Barbados A bowling attack to the sword.
He lost Michael Carberry (1), caught off the bowling of West Indies Under-19 World Cup winner Chemar Holder in the second over, but then proceeded to dominate.
Alsop had top scored with 31 in Hampshire’s earlier nine-run defeat by Nottinghamshire and continued in a positive manner to lay down an early marker for a place in the top six for next month’s Ageas Bowl County Championship opener against Warwickshire.
With support from Wheater (11) and Jimmy Adams (10), the 20-year old left-hander powered shots through the covers and off the back foot, striking a six and six boundaries to guide Hampshire home.
Will Smith made 14 not out as Hampshire cruised home with 15 balls to spare.
Hampshire coach Dale Benkenstein was delighted that two of the promising young players in the squad had played key roles in the victory over Barbados A.
“Brad and Tom really took their opportunities well and, although our first twenty20 match back home is a long way off, their performances have already given us something to watch and to think about.
“Tom’s been playing in South Africa for the past two months. Mentally coming out to Durban was a very good thing for him, learning to stand on his own two feet, which he doesn’t find easy.
“It was good for him to get through that and getting a score like that, at such a prestigious venue, will do his confidence the world of good.
“Brad (Wheal) is just getting better and better, as is Brad Taylor, who has emerged from the Under-19 World Cup as a very good cricketer, both as a batsman and a spin bowler.”
The Hampshire squad trained at the Bajan outpost of Isolation Cavaliers – a venue for the Hampshire Over-50s on their last Caribbean trip – yesterday.
They began a two-day match against Nottinghamshire at the Windward Sports Club in the east of the island on Tuesday (1000) and will play Barbados A again at the Bridgetown Oval on Friday and Saturday.
