Michael Carberry struck an unbeaten 78 as Hampshire continued their fine form in the T20 Blast with an 11-run victory over Middlesex at Lord's this evening.
As England take the positives from the early stages of a fresh approach to limited-overs cricket, Carberry offered a reminder of his ability against the white ball with a fine knock before Middlesex made 178-9 chasing 200 for the win.
The visitors opened up with Carberry and captain James Vince, who was named in the England squad to meet New Zealand in next week's T20 earlier in the day.
Vince was given a life early on when Harry Podmore was unable to take a very difficult catch off his own bowling in a second over which brought three boundaries for the batsman, but he was soon heading back inside when Kyle Abbott beat him with a straight one with his first ball of the evening.
Hampshire were forced to reassess when Jimmy Adams was trapped lbw while attempting to reverse sweep Ollie Rayner, and some fine bowling with pace off the ball restricted them to 71-2 midway through the innings.
Owais Shah impressed on his return to a former employer, and his partnership of 118 with Carberry proved to be key, as did a helping hand from James Harris, who was left frustrated when he had the former England batsman caught off a no-ball.
Middlesex's luck changed in the 17th over when Shah was forced to depart when he stood on his own stumps while sending the ball over the square-leg boundary.
Sean Ervine ensured that the momentum remained with Hampshire as he started his innings with three successive fours, but he was walking off for 20 off seven balls when Andy Balbirnie took a fine catch running from long-on off the bowling of Harris with two overs remaining.
Harry Podmore removed Adam Wheater for just six when he picked out captain James Franklin at cover in the penultimate over as Carberry finished on 72 not out with his side posting a total of 197-5.
Middlesex made a disastrous start to their reply when Nick Compton (0) offered a routine return catch to Will Smith in the opening over, and Nick Gubbins (5) followed in the next over when Australian bowler Jackson Bird got the lbw decision with just nine runs on the board.
John Simpson (35) and Paul Stirling (54) led the recovery with some excellent striking of the ball as the home side looked to get ahead of the rate, and the latter took a particular liking to Chris Wood, who watched the Irish batsman hit five boundaries in the fifth over, which cost Hampshire 24.
Stirling reached his half-century from 24 balls when Middlesex took 20 off Danny Briggs in the ninth over, but he lost his partner a couple of deliveries later when Simpson struck Smith straight to Bird at long-on.
A strong knock from Stirling came to an end when he could only miscue the ball straight into the air to give Yasir Arafat the catch and his first wicket as Middlesex slipped to 107-4, and only seven more runs had been added when Balbirnie had been caught behind off Briggs.
The spinner delivered another vital wicket when Neil Dexter (2) picked out Shah to leave the hosts in a difficult position, but Franklin kept Middlesex in touch by picking the gaps on a regular basis.
However, wickets continued to tumble and any realistic hopes of a Middlesex win were ended when Arafat trapped Franklin lbw to reduce the home side to 151-8.
Callum Mulvihill
