Fantasy XI – Hampshire (HAM) vs Essex (ESS)
WK: Ben McDermott
BAT: James Vince, Dan Lawrence
AR: Daniel Sams, Paul Walter, Liam Dawson, Matt Critchley, Simon Harmer
BOWL: Nathan Ellis, Chris Wood, Josh Turner
C/VC: Daniel Sams, James Vince
Rose Bowl, Southampton – Pitch Report & Venue Details
Average First Innings Score at the venue in Vitality T20 Blast since 2021: 164
Bat First vs Bowl First in all 32 Blast games since 2021: Win batting first – 63%, Win chasing – 37%
HAM-ESS Players in the top 10 leading run-scorers list at the venue since 2021: James Vince(1), Joe Weatherley(2), James Fuller(4), Ben McDermott(5), Ross Whiteley(10)
HAM-ESS Players in the top 10 leading wicket-takers list at the venue since 2017: Brad Wheal(1), Chris Wood(2), Liam Dawson(3), Mason Crane(4), James Fuller(5), Nathan Ellis(7)
Ground Dimensions: The venue has long straight boundaries (66m) and square boundaries (69m, 63m). ThirdMan-DeepMidWicket (70m, 71m) and FineLeg-DeepCover (76m, 65m).
Pitch Report: Southampton is one of England's biggest grounds and batters need to connect the ball bell to clear the boundaries. Spinners will have a slight advantage at this ground due to big boundaries.
Predicted Playing XI – Hampshire (HAM) vs Essex (ESS)
Hampshire: Ben McDermott(wk), James Vince©, Toby Albert, Joe Weatherly, Ross Whiteley, James Fuller, Benny Howell, Liam Dawson, Chris Wood, Nathan Ellis, John Turner
Essex: Feroze Khushi, Dan Lawrence, Michael Pepper, Robin Das, Paul Walter, Matt Critchley, Daniel Sams, William Buttleman(wk), Simon Harmer©, Shane Snater, Aron Nijjar
Fantasy Notes - Hampshire (HAM) vs Essex (ESS)
Points to consider
- Base Team picks: Ben McDermott, James Vince, Dan Lawrence, Daniel Sams, Paul Walter, Liam Dawson, Matt Critchley, Nathan Ellis
- Hampshire will start as favourites at their home ground and their squad is an experienced one who won the Blast last year. They will be very familiar with the conditions at Southampton with a lot of their core batters available to play.
- Joe Weatherley is the 2nd highest run scorer at Rose Bowl in the Blast since 2021 and he will bat at Number 4 for Hampshire. He has also returned to good form in the last 5 matches. Back him as a differential as he is selected in only 27% of the teams.
- Spinners will have an advantage on this ground due to the large boundaries. We will especially back the spinners who are bowling in the second innings as they will also have the advantage of picking up more wickets with the scoreboard pressure mounting on the batting team. Most of the spin bowlers are already covered in our base team.
- Try Matt Critchley as a differential C/VC in some of your combinations if he is batting in the first innings. His wrist spin will be key for Essex to defend the total and he can also pick up a couple of wickets in the process. Not to mention, he will most likely get an opportunity to bat considering the strength of h=Hamoshire's bowling.
- Essex's key pacer, Sam Cook has been ruled out of this match due to injury. Aaron Nijjjar (a left-arm orthodox spinner) replaced him in the XI's last match. This injury has weakened Essex's pace bowling, making Hampshire even bigger favorite in this encounter.
C/VC Differentials: Matt Critchley, Paul Walter
Note: Return after 15 minutes of the toss for a fully updated XI, Also stay tuned to our telegram for regular updates
Stats Credit: Cricinfo, Cricmetric
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