Royals the real deal in FLt20 2013

Hampshire Royals romped to a 62-run win over the Kent Spitfires in the Friends Life t20 competition last night, largely thanks to an explosive 83 off 56 balls from opener Michael Carberry. With one game left to play in the group stages, the Royals sit at the top of the South Group with fifteen points, having already guaranteed themselves a home draw in the quarter-finals.

Following their dominant performances thus far this summer, the Royals already appear to be strong favourites to retain the trophy they won on finals day at Sophia Gardens last year. Although many of the bookies have the Nottinghamshire Outlaws at the shortest odds, the East Midlands side won seven and lost three of their group matches, whilst the Royals have lost just one game in the competition all season (seven wins, one N/R), in arguably the strongest of the three groups.

It isn’t hard to understand why the Royals have been so successful. Simply looking at last night’s team sheet, even with qualification already sewn up, Hampshire fielded arguably their strongest t20 XI (minus Pakistani overseas player Sohail Tanvir and young wicketkeeper Michael Bates): Carberry, Vince, Adams, McKenzie, Mascarenhas ©, Ervine, Dawson, Wheater (wk), Wood, Briggs & Griffiths.

In fact, these thirteen aforementioned names are the only Hampshire players used in the FLt20 competition this summer. Their consistency has evidently been one key component of the Royals success in 2013, with momentum being another. Winning is a habit that is even more critical in a game as frenetic and unpredictable as Twenty 20 cricket.

As for the players themselves, Michael Carberry and Neil McKenzie have been pivotal to the Royals’ success with the bat. Carberry has been a revelation at the top of the order, scoring 391 runs at 55.86, blowing away the view that he is just a top-order blocker. Carberry’s powerful all-round stroke play has been a joy to watch, whilst his exploitation of the fielding restrictions in the powerplay overs has been particularly impressive. As for McKenzie, the formerly stodgy South African Test opener has become a remarkable t20 player. This season McKenzie averages 124.50, largely thanks to being unbeaten in four out of his six knocks. His 249 runs have come at a healthy strike-rate (120.00), whilst his consistency and experience have proved invaluable to the county once again this season.

Supported by the talented James Vince and the ever reliable Jimmy Adams, the Hampshire top order has excelled, and with the blend of strength, innovation and classic stroke play provided by Mascarenhas, Ervine and Dawson, their middle-order is probably one of the best in the country.

As for the bowlers, Sohail Tanvir is a particularly tricky customer. With balls coming down from over 196cms, the Pakistani left-armer is an extremely awkward bowler to get away, due to his impressive height, unorthodox action and unique angle of attack. In addition, medium-pacer Dmitri Mascarenhas has 146 career t20 wickets as well a healthy economy rate, whilst left-arm spinner Danny Briggs provides plenty of control in the middle overs. Young seamer Chris Wood is also a widely regarded prospect, thanks to his skill with the new ball and clever death bowling.

In short, it is going to take an impressive side to stop the Hampshire Royals from advancing all the way to the final come August 17^th at Edgbaston. Nottinghamshire and Somerset look like the two teams most likely to crash the Royals party; however the beauty of t20 cricket is that any team can beat another on their day. The question remains as to whether any team can repeat Kent’s trick at the Rose Bowl last week. The Spitfires are now the only team to have beaten the Royals in the t20 format for over a year.