ESS vs HAM 41st Match - South Group Prediction

ESS vs HAM Team Previews

Essex

The Essex team for the T20 season played its opening game on 30th May and promptly registered the first victory of the tournament against Gloucestershire. This win was followed by another comprehensive victory against Sussex. During their last season, Essex succeeded in claiming the playoff position after winning the last 4 games of the group stage. However, the celebrations were cut short as they got hammered by Lancashire in the competition quarterfinals. They ended up losing by 7 wickets.

They have made a great start to the competition with a couple of back-to-back wins. They will be disappointed if they fail to make it 3 in a row. Robin Das was in top form this year in Vitality T20 Blast as he scored a superb 69 from 33 balls in the opening match of the season. The 21-year-old top-order batter could not make a significant contribution last year. He also scored 31 not out against Sussex and so he is expected to do well in this match also. Simon Harmer remains the top bowler for Essex.

Harmer will be leading the way in this match as well. He was the leading wicket-taker for Essex last year. His capabilities to bowl well in powerplays come in handy for the Essex outfit. Essex began their campaign this year with a victory over Gloucestershire at the County Cricket Ground. They succeeded in chasing down a huge score of 195 runs. Essex managed to win the game by a margin of 3 wickets in the end. In their second game, they raised a total of 163 runs thanks to the efforts of Feroze Khushi who hit 55 runs. Simon Harmer followed this with a hattrick to ensure that Sussex will not come close to the target.

Hampshire

The Hampshire team on the other hand made a rocky beginning to the season. They have already received a couple of defeats in the competition in their first 3 matches. They are currently on the list of last-placed teams in the points table of the South Group. We think that Tom Prest is likely to have a high-scoring match for Hampshire in this game. James Vince has also had a sensational season while Tom Prest has made a steady start to the season. The performance in their opening match of the season was terrible as Hampshire was bowled out for 74 runs.

This is unlikely to happen during the season again. When these two sides met last year Prest scored 30 valuable runs. The result of the game went in favor of Hampshire as they beat Essex by a margin of 32 runs. So, Tom Prest is likely to have another solid outing in the match. The Hampshire team has struggled in the powerplay overs this season. From the 3 outings so far Hampshire has scored 26, 53, and 34. The only time they crossed the 5-over mark was against the lowly-placed team of Middlesex. Middlesex has lost all 4 games they have played in the competition.

Even during their games against the Essex team last year, the Hampshire team managed to score 33 and 39 runs in the powerplays. So, it is a tip for the opposition to encash upon. Similar to the last year Hampshire struggled to win the opening games of the competition. they have lost two out of three games they have played so far and the only win came against Middlesex who are languishing at the bottom of the points table. The Hampshire batters struggled to clear the boundaries this year and to make matters worse their bowling attack has conceded several sixes.