Hampshire have their maiden win of the 2015 season – and in some style. They entered the day a single run behind, with five Sussex wickets to take and, either side of a 120-run stand between Luke Wright and Ben Brown, were utterly clinical. The nightwatchman went in a flash, then after the resistance the tricky wicket brought the final three and the 126 required was knocked off without fuss.
The season remains young but a win – their first in Sussex in nine attempts – removes Hampshire from Division One’s foot to the relative heights of sixth.
After a series of lumpy draws, including a poor showing against Worcestershire last week, on sleep-inducing Ageas Bowl pitches, this victory by six wickets was Hampshire showing they can be a side in the image of their coach, Dale Benkenstein: doughty, efficient but with a dash of panache too.
Matters of importance clicked. The second-innings showing of Fidel Edwards – who picked up his first five-wicket haul since 2012 – was hair-raising. As is often the way with slingy speedsters, especially those who have not played long-form cricket for more than a year, Edwards’s early outings for the club had resulted in occasional brilliance amid wildness but on the second evening he clicked, bowling rhythmically, rapidly and aggressively down the hill, dismissing Sussex’s top three for four runs in five overs. He completed his five-wicket haul with Tuesday’s fourth ball, as Steve Magoffin edged to slip.
Also of note were the performances of Gareth Berg, with his highest score and best figures since 2011, plus James Vince and Adam Wheater. Only the bowling of Jackson Bird – in his first Championship appearance after injury – disappointed.
“To get the monkey off the back and get that first win is huge,” said the captain, Jimmy Adams. “There’s a mixture of happiness and a bit of relief, too. You try not to think too negatively but it can be hard. Last week we were way off the standard, so it’s credit to the guys for turning it around so quickly.”
Wright and Brown batted beautifully. Three times Edwards struck Brown with chin music before he reached double figures but he survived and responded with consecutive boundaries, on the pull and through cover.
As the partnership moved past 100, Danny Briggs’s nerves will have jangled; he dropped the simplest, loopiest chance at square-leg when Brown had 13 and the partnership was 35.
A troublesome chase appeared to be brewing for Hampshire but Will Smith provided the magic required. Minutes before lunch, Brown pushed to point, Smith swooped to his left and threw the single stump he had to aim at down, leaving Wright short on 84. The first four overs of Bird’s spell cost 28 but in his fifth one rose and took Brown’s glove. After lunch, Ollie Robinson found deep square-leg and Fynn Hudson-Prentice prodded to bat-pad. After glimpses of promise, four wickets had fallen for four runs.
Hampshire’s pursuit of 126 passed with barely an alarm. Jimmy Adams and Sean Terry – who was unbeaten for a career-best 62 – drove Sussex’s green attack down the ground beautifully. Four wickets fell; Adams drilled Wells to midwicket where Mike Yardy took a brilliant catch and Michael Carberry feathered Matt Hobden down the legside.
After tea, James Vince, attempting to hit Wells into the Channel, top-edged and found Ed Joyce, who took a swirling catch at slip before Smith edged to gully.
Sussex’s showing was sorry, their fourth defeat in five games – and the third consecutive three-day match at Hove – and was summed up first by a Robinson misfield at cover for Terry’s win-sealing single, then by the captain Joyce’s post-match assessment: “We were second best in a fairly poor game,‚“ he said.
Poor quality, perhaps – not that Hampshire mind.
