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HAMPSHIRE ended their Champions League Twenty20 campaign with a second successive loss after a six-wicket defeat to Sialkot Stallions in Johannesburg.
The match, a qualifier for the main tournament, was a dead rubber as Auckland had already made it through the group with two wins so the English county were playing only for pride. But having posted an inadequate 143 for eight, mainly thanks to Australian Glenn Maxwell’s 42 off 29 balls, they saw their Punjabi opponents ease to victory with five deliveries to spare. Sialkot-born 24-year-old Haris Sohail led the way with an unbeaten 63 off 57 balls ably supported by skipper Shoaib Malik (39 off 25).
Liam Dawson had given Hampshire the ideal start by removing Imran Nazir with only the fourth ball of Sialkot’s reply and the English side glimpsed a chance when they reduced their opponents to 28 for three in the seventh over.
However, Sohail and Shoaib shared a stand of 96 to take the match away from Hampshire and even the late dismissal of the latter could not halt Sialkot’s smooth passage to victory.
Earlier Maxwell had rescued Hampshire from 64 for four in the 11th, hitting three sixes and four fours in a 56-run stand with Pakistan international Shahid Afridi (14).
However, their departures in successive balls of the 17th over robbed the innings of some much-needed late momentum and although Dawson hit 16 off 10 deliveries their total proved not to be enough. (PA Sport)
The match, a qualifier for the main tournament, was a dead rubber as Auckland had already made it through the group with two wins so the English county were playing only for pride. But having posted an inadequate 143 for eight, mainly thanks to Australian Glenn Maxwell’s 42 off 29 balls, they saw their Punjabi opponents ease to victory with five deliveries to spare. Sialkot-born 24-year-old Haris Sohail led the way with an unbeaten 63 off 57 balls ably supported by skipper Shoaib Malik (39 off 25).
Liam Dawson had given Hampshire the ideal start by removing Imran Nazir with only the fourth ball of Sialkot’s reply and the English side glimpsed a chance when they reduced their opponents to 28 for three in the seventh over.
However, Sohail and Shoaib shared a stand of 96 to take the match away from Hampshire and even the late dismissal of the latter could not halt Sialkot’s smooth passage to victory.
Earlier Maxwell had rescued Hampshire from 64 for four in the 11th, hitting three sixes and four fours in a 56-run stand with Pakistan international Shahid Afridi (14).
However, their departures in successive balls of the 17th over robbed the innings of some much-needed late momentum and although Dawson hit 16 off 10 deliveries their total proved not to be enough. (PA Sport)
