Record innings from David Wiese as Sharks almost pull off another miracle

Hampshire edged out a high scoring thriller as Sussex Sharks produced a second unbelievable Royal London One Day Cup match in three days.

David Wiese scored an epic 171 to take Sussex within 13 runs of a victory after his side had slipped to 103 for five chasing a massive 355. 

🥇 This is now a career best for @David_Wiese, beating the 108 he made for Easterns vs. Free State nearly 12 years ago!

⏯ Striking the ball as clean as a whistle! 234 for 5 off 38.3, 122 to win #SharkAttack pic.twitter.com/rVBTrAiIP6

— Sussex Cricket (@SussexCCC) May 2, 2019

But Kyle Abbott’s 10th over, the 49th of the match saw the game turn back Hampshire's way as he got rid of Wiese and Danny Briggs and only went for nine runs.

Mason Crane took four wickets for 55, including two in the final over to give Hampshire victory and put them on the brink of a knockout spot.

The match was as incredible as the Sharks’ one wicket victory over Essex on Tuesday, which saw Will Beer and Laurie Evans put on a three figure stand for the seventh wicket before No.10 Danny Briggs scored the winning runs with a ball to spare. On that occasion, the Sussex players had sung The Great Escape on their return to the dressing room, but at the Ageas Bowl, it was Hampshire signing the theme to the classic film.

It looked like a regulation Hampshire win when Luke Wright fell in the third over when Kyle Abbott jagged a delivery into his middle-stump before Phil Salt flashed to Aneurin Donald at point.

The slide continued when Garton was lbw for 18 attempting to reverse sweep Liam Dawson and Harry Finch pulled a Fuller bouncer to deep square-leg.

When Dawson bowled Evans, all appeared lost for Sussex with the match drifting towards a simple home win – but Wiese and Brown collided to swing the game towards the visitors.

Wiese had proven his batting prowess earlier in the tournament when he scored 92 not out in the Sharks win against Surrey and he went through the gears effectively here as he reached his half century in 57 balls.

He reached full throttle soon after with only another 26 balls required for the South African to reach three figures, with six fours and three maximums included in the barrage.

Alongside Wiese, Brown was quietly accompanying with a pacy half century of his own. Wiese took the WASP from a one per cent chance of victory to 81 per cent as he moved past 150 in 120 balls.

Brown departed for 64 with 21 still to win when he reversed swept to Dawson at backward point. That ended a 232-run partnership, by far Sussex's highest for the sixth wicket in one-day cricket and their third highest overall.

In the next over, Abbott finally forced Wiese to mishit to long-on. It was the end of an astounding knock; one that featured nine sixes and 14 fours and meant that Luke Wright's record individual score for Sussex in one-day cricket had lasted less than a week.

Danny Briggs chipped Abbott to Gareth Berg two balls later and the crazy game was concluded when Crane had Will Beer and Mir Hamza stumped in the final over. 346 all out was the third-highest one-day score in Sharks history.  

Earlier, Hampshire had appeared to score an unassailable 355 after stand-in captain Sam Northeast won the toss and elected to bat.

Hampshire were forced to reshuffle their top order with James Vince on England duty in Ireland, with Aneurin Donald moved up to open with Alsop.

The pair put on 78, a best opening stand for the season, in a watchful manner, which prioritised running hard to boundaries.

Donald was well caught on the square-leg boundary, while pulling Beer, but that didn’t deter Hampshire as Markram joined Alsop.

Again, the duo refused to take unnecessary risks but when they did they used their power to explosive effect – Markram pumping a pair of sixes over extra-cover a particular highlight from the stand.

He looked confidently steady while reaching a half century in 71 balls. But it was Markram who brought the glamour, often provided by Vince, with glittering drives – half of his 16 fours coming between cover and mid-on – and pressure relieving punches. His fifty came from 48 deliveries.

The partnership continued to blossom and took Hampshire to the last 10 overs just one wicket down before Alsop, having reached three figures off 116 balls, picked out George Garton at long off; Danny Briggs breaking a stand worth 184.

Markram continued his fun and reached his maiden three figures for Hampshire in his penultimate fixture before the World Cup from 73 balls.

Rilee Rossouw and James Fuller were hoisted up the order to boost the run rate but departed relatively cheaply to Hamza and Abi Sakande respectively. Markram finally departed in the penultimate over, giving Mir Hamza his 15th wicket of the tournament. Hampshire added a further ten runs and, as it would turn out, had scored just enough.

Ruminating on what could have been after his sensational innings, Wiese said: "

“It is a bitter sweet match. On a personal level that is probably the best innings I have every played. But from a team aspect not to see them over the line is disappointing.

“It is only my second List A hundred and I never thought I would be in the position to bat that long. It’s a case of batting as long as possible and taking it as late into the game as possible and hope we get a panic from them. Anything can happen.

“It was nice to get recognition from the Hampshire players after I got out. For them to come over and say well played was a nice touch from them. They held their nerve at the end and made it difficult at the death.

💬 “It’s bittersweet. It’s probably the best innings I’ve ever played but not being able to see the team over the line is disappointing.” @David_Wiese speaks to @AdrianHarms following his excellent 171 against Hampshire: pic.twitter.com/ufGKE59ucC

— Sussex Cricket (@SussexCCC) May 2, 2019

“We felt there was some panic there from Hampshire. They started turning on each other a little bit and there was some argy and niggle in the field – that is where we started to think we were winning the battle.

“At no stage did we look up at the score we just batted. I got into the bubble and just batted.

“We’ve put ourselves in precarious positions and come out on top this season so sitting in the dressing room there is a massive belief we should have won that game.

“We had no right to be in that position for us to be disappointed at not winning that game shows where we are at this stage.”

Despite defeat, the Sharks remain in third position in the south group with two games to play. The first of those is against Gloucestershire at The Saffrons in Eastbourne on Sunday. Tickets are available here. 

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