Hampshire heroes Brenden Fourie (left) and Jamie Donaldson.
Trojans captain Jamie Donaldson and retired South African provincial cricketer Brenden Fourie shared an unbroken 66-run partnership as Hampshire Seniors staged a remarkable recovery to beat their Somerset counterparts by three wickets in their opening ECB 50-plus County Championship group match at Basingstoke.
Hampshire looked unlikely winners as they dipped to 62-6 chasing Somerset’s 160-7 off a rain trimmed 36 overs – but led by former Border player Fourie, on debut, they turned the match around.
His 36-run stand with Havant’s Pete Hayward (24) initiated the Hampshire recovery (to 98-7) which really took off when the South African was joined by Donaldson who, using his height to great effect, straight drove the Somerset bowlers to defeat, hitting seven boundaries in a rapid 44 not out which saw the Seniors to victory with three overs to spare.
Now aged 51 years, Fourie, with an unbeaten 34, emigrated to the UK in late 2020, having made 48 first class appearances and played 78 List A matches for Border in South African provincial cricket from 1988 onwards. He recently joined Burridge.
He must have sat on the May’s Bounty balcony somewhat bemused as a succession of Hampshire batsmen gave their wickets away in reckless fashion during the early, almost disastrous, stages of the innings. Only Sparsholt chairman Andy Worth (36) got his head down as, one after another, the Seniors batsmen pressed the self-destruct button.
Earlier, Somerset’s innings had been disrupted by a lengthy rain break. Marooned for almost two hours on 93-4, their innings was trimmed from 45 to 36 overs, giving Hampshire a great advantage, which they almost threw aside.
Hampshire suffered a third successive defeat in the National Sixties Championship, being outplayed by Middlesex, who won by seven wickets at Lymington.
Andy Steggall (37) apart, Hampshire’s batsmen struggled against a high quality Middlesex attack and were reduced to 87-6 before Rowledge vet Chris Yates (44), Graham Baker (23) and Iain Britton (21) gave their eventual 163 an air of respectability.
Steve Mitchell (2-10 off eight overs) bowled immaculately, but Middlesex cruised to victory with Barbadian Algie Corbin hitting 64.
Hampshire looked unlikely winners as they dipped to 62-6 chasing Somerset’s 160-7 off a rain trimmed 36 overs – but led by former Border player Fourie, on debut, they turned the match around.
His 36-run stand with Havant’s Pete Hayward (24) initiated the Hampshire recovery (to 98-7) which really took off when the South African was joined by Donaldson who, using his height to great effect, straight drove the Somerset bowlers to defeat, hitting seven boundaries in a rapid 44 not out which saw the Seniors to victory with three overs to spare.
Now aged 51 years, Fourie, with an unbeaten 34, emigrated to the UK in late 2020, having made 48 first class appearances and played 78 List A matches for Border in South African provincial cricket from 1988 onwards. He recently joined Burridge.
He must have sat on the May’s Bounty balcony somewhat bemused as a succession of Hampshire batsmen gave their wickets away in reckless fashion during the early, almost disastrous, stages of the innings. Only Sparsholt chairman Andy Worth (36) got his head down as, one after another, the Seniors batsmen pressed the self-destruct button.
Earlier, Somerset’s innings had been disrupted by a lengthy rain break. Marooned for almost two hours on 93-4, their innings was trimmed from 45 to 36 overs, giving Hampshire a great advantage, which they almost threw aside.
Hampshire suffered a third successive defeat in the National Sixties Championship, being outplayed by Middlesex, who won by seven wickets at Lymington.
Andy Steggall (37) apart, Hampshire’s batsmen struggled against a high quality Middlesex attack and were reduced to 87-6 before Rowledge vet Chris Yates (44), Graham Baker (23) and Iain Britton (21) gave their eventual 163 an air of respectability.
Steve Mitchell (2-10 off eight overs) bowled immaculately, but Middlesex cruised to victory with Barbadian Algie Corbin hitting 64.
