Benham leads Hants home

Chris Benham

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Chris Benham spearheaded an astonishing run-chase with captain Nic Pothas to earn Hampshire Hawks their first win in the Friends Provident Trophy - a five-wicket victory over Gloucestershire Gladiators under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

Benham (54 not out) and Pothas (43) put on 98 for the fifth wicket to make amends for a dreadful display in the field in which their distant lack of bowling depth was brutally exposed.

With Shane Bond injured and Dimi Mascarenhas playing in the Indian Premier League, Gloucestershire batsmen Alex Gidman (105), Marcus North (85) and Hamish Marshall (64) profited from a generous attack to reach 350 for five.

The mammoth score should have been enough to condemn Hampshire to a third defeat of the season in the 50-over game but following two hours of rain after the interval they were left with a more realistic target of 240 from 30 overs.

After Somerset’s huge chase just 48 earlier on a flat Rose Bowl track Pothas elected to field first and backed by a batting line-up which included Kevin Pietersen in his last one-day game before he rejoins the England squad.

The Gloucestershire openers began steadily if not unspectacularly but after Benham dropped Gidman following a miscued drive over Chris Tremlett both he and Marshall accelerated to bring the 100 up from 111 deliveries.

Marshall’s half-century arrived with a crashing boundary as Hampshire toiled with the ball but just as he began to pick his big shots he failed to find the middle of the bat from a Billy Taylor delivery and instead picked out Sean Ervine who claimed the catch.

Michael Carberry impressed for Hampshire © Getty Images

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Craig Spearman threatened to carry the fight with a quick-fire 23 from 18 balls but he chipped Greg Lamb’s innocuous off-spin once more into the arms of the grateful Ervine.

Despite these momentary set-backs the Gladiators soon reached 200 in the 34th over with Gidman and North smashing both Tremlett and rookie David Griffiths all over the park.

Gidman’s stunning innings was brought to a surprise end with a rare rush of blood as, just one ball after being dropped by Ervine, he completely missed a full-toss by the Zimbabwean all-rounder and was bowled.

Long ensured the run rate was kept at a maximum by bringing the 300 up with one Tremlett over going for 18 before the England international claimed some degree of revenge as the Australian hit one straight at Ervine on the boundary.

Chris Taylor (53) took the score to 350 with some crashing drives and instinctive running as the game was looking irretrievable for the home side.

The light rain however was enough to cause a significant delay and with the total reduced to a far more gettable 240 the Hawks knew with a decent start they could have a strong chance.

That platform was provided by Michael Lumb (30) and Michael Carberry (60) but after Pietersen (23) fell cheaply without ever finding a rhythm the men from the Westcountry sensed the win.

Ervine (15) was out at the wrong time as he spooned North’s juicy full-toss to Steve Kirby leaving Carberry appearing the only one left to see an unlikely result through.

However the England Lions batsman was predictably caught in the deep by Ian Fisher in some style and the match looked like it was drifting away from the Hawks as the run rate increased to almost 12 an over.

That was of little consequence for Benham and Pothas who dovetailed perfectly to record the win and kick-start Hampshire’s season into life.