Lethal Lumb puts Hants on course for Twenty20 quarter finals (From Daily Echo)

Lethal Lumb puts Hants on course for Twenty20 quarter finals

11:18am Wednesday 24th June 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

Michael Lumb stormed to the top of the Twenty20 Cup run charts as Hampshire kept their quarter-final hopes alive against Shaun Udal’s Middlesex last night.

Opener Lumb missed out on a second Twenty20 Cup hundred in three games when he was stumped off a wide, but his 52-ball 93 was enough for Hampshire to amass 183-4 against the champions.

Despite a valiant effort from Middlesex, Hampshire won by 28 runs with Chris Tremlett (4-28) outstanding in his first Twenty20 game of the season.

Middlesex have now lost all seven of their South Divison games since lifting last year’s Twenty20 Cup at the Rose Bowl.

Only Owais Shah’s 97-run stand in nine overs with Billy Godleman threatened to end Hampshire’s 100 per cent Twenty20 record at the Rose Bowl this season.

After Hampshire captain Dimi Mascarenhas found the shoulder of Neil Dexter’s bat in Middlesex’s fourth over, Shah and Godleman took Middlesex to 116-2.

Shah smashed sixes over square leg and mid-wicket against Sean Ervine in his 40-ball 45.

And left-hander Godleman (57) reached his fifty from 37 balls by depositing his only maximum, against Imran Tahir over mid-wicket – before he was trapped lbw by the leg-spinner’s flipper.

Shah received useful support from Eoin Morgan (18), who picked up Mascarenhas for six over mid wicket before excellent Tremlett bowling frustrated him into sweeping straight to Liam Dawson at short fine leg.

Tremlett conceded just four runs in the 17th over to leave a 44-run target from the last 18 balls.

When Lumb rounded off a spectacular individual display by catching Shah on the run from long-on, and then pouching Tyron Henderson at extra cover, the points were Hampshire’s.

Man-of-the-match Lumb hit 11 fours and three sixes during a blitz that took his runs aggregate in this season's competition to 380.

His opening partner Jimmy Adams (4) picked out Gareth Berg on the square-leg boundary in the second over and Udal ended his 47-run stand with Michael Carberry (19) by pouching a return catch in his first over.

But Lumb hit back by reaching his fifty from 31 balls with a colossal six against Udal over mid-wicket.

Ervine (6) was out in embarrassing fashion, caught at short extra cover after failing to execute a reverse sweep but Lumb continued unabated, lifting Udal for another maximum.

Mascarenhas (23) carted Murali Kartik for successive sixes over mid-wicket before picking out Shah at mid-on attempting a third in the 15th.

Lumb was dropped at backward point on 82 by Finn off Henderson and then survived a stumping next ball.

He responded by launching Berg over mid-wicket for another maximum – before being stumped seven runs short of joining a select group of players with more than one Twenty20 century, which includes Cameron White and Ian Harvey.

Dawson (3) missed a slog against a straight Henderson delivery at the beginning of Hampshire’s penultimate over.

And Benham finished unbeaten on 23 (16 balls) after Shah put him down at long off on 14 during the climax to the Hampshire innings.