Chris Jordan returns to squad as Sharks look to make it three in a row

Sussex Sharks are back in Vitality Blast action on Thursday night for the first of two back-to-back fixtures.

Ahead of their first home match of this year’s tournament against Surrey on Friday night, the Sharks head to the Ageas Bowl to take on Hampshire.

Head coach, Jason Gillespie has made one change to the squad that travelled to Chelmsford and Cardiff for the wins against Essex and Glamorgan.

Having returned from England duty, Chris Jordan is included in the squad for the first time in the tournament. He replaces George Garton in the 13-man group.

Tymal Mills and Stiaan van Zyl remain unavailable through injury.

Looking ahead to the trip across county lines, Gillespie said: “We’ve had two tough away fixtures against top opposition and Hampshire will be no different.

“They’ll be looking to bounce back from their defeat against Glamorgan and have a number of outstanding T20 players, so we will have to be wary.

“We’ve prepared well and are learning from every game and as an added bonus we have CJ back in the squad after his time with England.”

After two wins from two, Sussex sit on top of the South Group, ahead of Kent by virtue of a superior net run rate. Kent play their third match of the tournament against Gloucestershire at Bristol this afternoon.

Sussex Sharks squad

10. Luke Wright (c)

22. Jofra Archer 

18. Will Beer

21. Danny Briggs

42. Tom Bruce 

5. Michael Burgess (wk)

32. Laurie Evans

8. Chris Jordan

1. Rashid Khan

9. Delray Rawlins

25. Ollie Robinson

28. Phil Salt

96. David Wiese 

Opposition

Hampshire have only played one game so far in this year’s Blast; a 63-run defeat at home to Glamorgan.

Liam Dawson picked up 2-25 as Glamorgan reached 168-6 batting first, before Hampshire were bowled out for 106 in 16.5 overs.

Despite their false start, Hampshire are regarded as one of the strongest white-ball teams in the country and are amongst the favourites for the tournament. The Royal London One-Day Cup champions have reached seven of the last eight T20 finals day.

Match details

Hampshire v Sussex Sharks in the Vitality Blast gets underway at 7pm on Thursday 12th July at The Ageas Bowl.

Follow the match via the Sussex Cricket Match Day Centre, with live scorecards, statistics and text commentary via the @SussexCricket twitter feed.

For the best photos and videos from the night, follow us on our @SussexCCC Instagram and Snapchat channels.

Live ball-by-ball commentary will be available from BBC Sussex, both online and on 104.5 FM in East Sussex, 95.3 FM in Mid Sussex and 104.8 FM in West Sussex.