Hampshire start tour of South Africa with a loss

The players were met with thick fog for the start of the Winelands Tournament at Boland Park, Paarl today. The mist decended over the Klein Blekenstein mountain range. Players practised in damp and misty conditions, and the game scheduled for 9:30am was put off for half an hour.

When the fog went, Hampshire were invited to bat on a dampish wicket and outfield. Having got off the flight from London the previous day, all the odds were stacked against them as they were playing their first outside match of the 2001 season, whereas Boland had just approached their end of season.

Hampshire got off to the worst start when captain Robin Smith having attempted a square cut off du Toit's first ball, edh=ged the second ball into the juggling hands of the second slip. Two more wickets fell in sharp succession as White and Sexton fell at 17. Jason Laney and new vice-captain Will Kendall put together the best partnership of the innings, but on their departure wickets fell at a steady pace. Alex Morris was very unlucky to have been run out, when his brother Zac, drove the ball back to bowler Henderson who eflected that ball on the stumps at the other end with Alex stranded.

Their final total of 97, in normal circumstances would have been abject, but with only two boundaries on the wet outfield and some excellednt tight bowling especially from du Toit and the South African 'A' player Ontong.

By the time Boland started their innings, the temparature had risen to 32C (93F) and conditions for batting were vastly improved. Cyster and Henderson made light of the Hampshire oipeners, and struck up a half-century opening partnership. John Stephenson however brought some respectability to the fielding side, by snapping up 3 wickets for 11, and when Strydon was plumb LBW to the off-spin of Shaun Udal, at least the tourists were not disgraced.

Tim Tremlett, Hampshire's director of cricket was not making any excuses, but did feel that "we had the rub of the green".

Hampshire meet Warwickshire tommorrow (Friday) in a match starting at 4:00pm, and will hope to improve on today's performance in the floodlit contest.