Kent will take on Hampshire in the second game of the South Group in England’s T20 Blast 2020.
Team Previews
Kent and Hampshire both sides missed out on the qualification last season and finished 5th and 7th in the South division. Kent will be led by Sam Billings who had a wonderful series against Ireland at home but he is likely to be unavailable for the first few matches due to Pakistan’s series along with Joe Denly. Ollie Robinson and Jordan Cox (scored double-hundred in Bob Wills Trophy) might replace both batsmen. Kent signed up Jack Leaning from Yorkshire and in the spin-department, they have Hamidullah Qadri for this season along with their regular spinner Imran Qayyum. Ken will definitely miss Mohammed Nabi who was the top-performer for the side. Kent needs to recover from the absence of Viljoen and Milne who had a good campaign last year.
Meanwhile, Hampshire signed Scottish top-order player George Munsey who had an impressive run at the international level. Due to travel restrictions, they are also going to miss Dawson and Rilee Rossouw in the batting lineup. James Vince will have a big responsibility to lead his side to the next round but his form would be a big concern. Kyle Abbott will be the big miss from the side who scalped 20 wickets last season. Chris Wood will play Abbott’s role in bowling attack but it still looks a dull bowling unit of this season.
Pitch Report
St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury will host the match between Kent and Hampshire. It’s a good cricketing surface, helps both batsmen and bowlers. A score above 150 would be a good score to defend. Spinners can also take help from the surface, the later the match progresses. Rainfall is expected on Thursday.
Final Squads
Kent
Daniel Bell-Drummond, Zak Crawley, Joe Denly, Sam Billings (C), Heino Kuhn, Alex Blake, Jack Leaning, Grant Stewart, Fred Klaassen, Tim Groenewald, Imran Qayyum
Hampshire
James Vince (C), George Munsey, Nye Donald, Ian Holland, Tom Alsop, Sam Northeast, Chris Wood, James Fuller, Mason Crane, Ryan Stevenson
Key Players
Kent
Imran Qayyum
Last season – M: 9, Wickets: 12, Avg: 18.83
Daniel Bell-Drummond
Last Season – M: 12, Runs: 317, Avg: 26.41
Hampshire
James Vince
Last Season – M: 13, Runs: 407, Avg: 40.70
George Munsey
Bat at top-order, impactful with a top strike rate
