Hampshire, Sussex to clash in final by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

---

Ground:	Old Trafford, Manchester, County Ground, Hove
Scorecard:	Lancashire v Hampshire, Sussex v Gloucestershire
Player:	MJ Lumb, JHK Adams, G Keedy, Imran Tahir, EC Joyce, APR Gidman, MH Yardy
Event:	Friends Provident Trophy 2009

---

DateLine: 6th July 2009

 

Hampshire vs Lancashire

 

Hampshire cruised past Lancashire into the Friends Provident Trophy final with a comfortable 64-run win at Old Trafford. For Hampshire Jimmy Adams and Michael Lumb put on an opening wicket partnership of 159 and it seemed that Hampshire was on course for 300 plus total. But the Lancashire bowlers led by left arm spinner Keedy put a tight noose over the Hampshire batsmen and finally got them dismissed for 271 in the 49th over. The Hampshire bowlers, who were supported by some outstanding fielding, choked the Lancashire batting line-up with some excellent and accurate bowling.

 

Earlier in the day Adams and Lumb literally brought the Lancashire bowlers onto their feet with some aggressive stroke play, as they bludgeoned the bowlers to all parts of the ground. The spinners were introduced very quickly but the scoreboard continued to tick over at a healthy rate. Mahmood finally got the breakthrough when he had Adams caught. Mahmood struck again when Lumb was deceived by a slower one. Keedy then put the breaks on the scoring as he bowled tight line and length and finally when his spell got over he had three wickets in his bag. Hampshire held back their Powerplay until the last five overs but Chapple and Mahmood wrapped up the innings

 

Despite the early loss of Paul Horton, Mal Loye and VVS Laxman set a solid base for the chase. But as the surface got slower and with regular interval of wickets, Lancashire could not regain the momentum after losing the wickets. Loye was aggressive as usual while Laxman was in his zone as both added a well-paced 73 runs in about 15 overs. Tahir was well supported by the medium pace of Ervine as both put a tight noose over the new batsmen as they were tied to the crease.

 

Sussex vs Gloucestershire

 

Ed Joyce's magnificent 146 cancelled out Alex Gidman's well paced 116 to help Sussex reach the finals. Sussex had set up a daunting 327 as the target for Gloucestershire, who on the back of Gidman manfully tried to chase down the target but fell short by 34 runs.

 

Sussex set off at a decent rate with Joyce and Chris Nash laying the platform. Joyce played the anchor role, allowing the others to free their arms. After losing Nash and Wright, Goodwin and Joyce stabilised the innings. There was slight lull in the scoring in the middle overs but once both the batsmen opted for the batting Powerplays the rate in scoring got the needed boost. Joyce stayed to see the total past 300 before being run out.

 

In reply Kadeer Ali fell early but Marshall and Gidman scored quickly freely and managed to put the opposition under pressure. Hamish Marshall and Gidman added 155 for the second wicket to make the chase to give a scare to Sussex. Gidman kept the hope of overhauling the target when he reached the triple figures but once he got out at the team total 252 the chase fizzled out. Michael Yardy had Gidman caught behind to remove the last hope for Gloucestershire. Yardy closed out the match and finished with four wickets.