Sharks head to Hants looking to continue best start to one-day competition since 2011

With heart rates only just returning to normal after their astonishing victory over Essex, Sussex Sharks are back in Royal London One-Day Cup action against Hampshire at The Ageas Bowl on Thursday. An unchanged 13-man match day squad has been named for the trip.

Tuesday’s one-wicket triumph was Sussex’s fourth win from their opening five matches, making this the team’s best start to a one-day season since the 2011 Clydesdale Bank 40. The Sharks made it to the semi-finals of that tournament.

Three batsmen – Will Beer, Danny Briggs & George Garton – made new career-best scores at Chelmsford, with Beer’s 75 the highest score by a Sussex number eight in one-day cricket.

His 121-run wicket partnership with Laurie Evans was also the club’s highest for the seventh wicket in the format. Beer has now been involved in Sussex’s record one-day partnerships for the seventh, eighth and tenth wickets.

Mir Hamza’s two wickets in the match take his tournament haul to 13 at an average a fraction over 20. He sits joint fifth in the competition list.

As things stand, the Sharks sit third in the south group, level on eight points with second-placed Somerset who are playing at fifth-placed Middlesex today.

🛣️ Back on the road again...

The boys are on their way to @TheAgeasBowl ahead of tomorrow's @OneDayCup clash against Hampshire. 💪 #SharkAttack pic.twitter.com/B4g9M3ZTB0

— Sussex Cricket (@SussexCCC) May 1, 2019

Taking stock after the drama of the Essex match, Sussex head coach Jason Gillespie, said: “We got out of jail in that game, no doubt, but taking two points at Essex with the quality of their players and their superb support was very satisfying.

“It’s not lost on us that we need to improve, but the lads are continuing to learn, continuing to work on making good decisions, communicating with each other and adapting to conditions.

“Laurie and Beero gave a good example of how to do that on Tuesday and spoke really well at the end of the match on how they had gone about things: talking to each other, working out a plan and playing smart cricket to take the game as deep as possible.

“Danny and the Hammer finished things off with more smart cricket, so while there is work to do, the lads are showing that as a team we can find ways to win from challenging positions. All in all, I’m delighted. 

“It goes without saying that Hampshire are quality opposition who know conditions at their home ground very well. On a different surface, with different weather and different ground dimensions, we’ll have to adapt to the specific conditions to give us the best chance of performing well.

“The boys are really enjoying the tournament so far, so they’re excited to get back out to the middle for the next match and put on a show.”

Sussex Sharks Squad

Ben Brown (c) (w)
Ed Barnes
Will Beer
Danny Briggs
Laurie Evans
Harry Finch
George Garton
Mir Hamza
Abi Sakande
Phil Salt
Stiaan van Zyl
David Wiese
Luke Wright

Opposition

Defending champions, Hampshire are currenty top of  the south group with five wins from their six games so far. There victories have all been by significant margins and when batting first (four times) the team have passed 300 on every occasion. Essex’s 111-run win over the defending champions on Sunday showed that Adrian Birrell’s men are not infallible, however.

James Vince has been Hampshire’s most dangerous batsman, with 430 runs from his six innings. He will not be available tomorrow, however, as he is now with England ahead of Friday’s ODI against Ireland. South African overseas player, Aiden Markram is next on the list of Hampshire’s run-getters with 275 from his six outings. Two other players – Liam Dawson and Rilee Rossouw – have over 200 runs. Dawson and Kyle Abbot are leading the way with the ball for Hampshire, they have 13 and 14 wickets respectively.

Squad: TBA

Match Day Information

Play is scheduled to start at 11am. Tickets are available from the Ageas Bowl website.

Follow the game live on the Sussex Cricket Match Day Centre, including live text commentary via the @SussexCCC Twitter account, live stats and a live scorecard.

A live stream of the match will be available via the cricket section of the Ageas Bowl website.

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