The inaugural 2010 Friends Provident T20 tournament came to a dramatic, thrilling (and somewhat confusing) conclusion on Saturday, as Hampshire and Somerset played out of their skins at the Rose Bowl - only for Hampshire to be crowned winners by virtue of fewer wickets lost, as both teams ended up with 173 from their respective innings. The game had big hitting, great bowling, superb fielding and commendable sportsmanship, so maybe it was no surprise that Hampshire and Somerset were neck-and-neck at the end of the game. In the end, it was Dominic Cork's brilliant final over for Hampshire, and his team squeezing through in the confusion of the last ball of the game, that took them to victory at the home ground.
Somerset batted first, and skipper Marcus Tresothick got things off to a brisk start, but fell tamely when he was set for a big score. Dismissed for just 19 off 8 balls, Somerset were 41/1 in the 5th over. Craig Kieswetter and Peter Trego came together to take Somerset past the first 10 overs with no further loss of wickets. Trego was removed thanks to a great catch by Sean Ervine, who had initially misjudged the shot at long-off, before correcting himself and timing his jump to take the ball one-handed. Trego went for 33 off 24, and Somerset were 97/2. Kieswetter brought up his 50 from 48 balls. He slashed Daniel Christian down the ground the next delivery, and the ball touched James Vince's cap as he attempted to field it. Somerset were interested in the possibility of being awarded 5 penalty runs, but the umpires ruled against them, since Vince had not deliberately tried to use his cap to field the ball. It was a ruling that, while perfectly correct, meant Somerset had to settle for just the 2 off that delivery. No one thought much of it at the time, but given what would happen at the end of the game, Somerset will look back on the incident and wonder.
Kieswetter eventually fell to a good catch by Michael Carberry for a well-made 71. Somerset were 150/4, and Hampshire might have fancied keeping them quiet - that was until Kieron Pollard went 4, 6 and 6 on Chris Wood (who finished with match figures of 4-0-51-0). The last over, bowled by Hampshire captain Dominic Cork, started with drama, as Neil McKenzie dropped a very difficult chance off Pollard, and Somerset scrambled 3. Jos Buttler was gone two balls later, caught at long on. Then Cork nailed Pollard with a viscous bouncer that snuck between the visor and grill of Pollard's helmet , swelling his eye shut and causing him to bleed from the nose. Pollard retired hurt with a blazing 22 from just 7 deliveries. Cork was rattled enough that he barely celebrating dismissing Arul Suppiah off the very next delivery, and when he finished the innings with a dot ball, asked the Somerset batsmen to check on Pollard's condition.
Hampshire started their innings with the Friends Provident T20's leading run-scorer, Jimmy Adams, facing the tournament's leading wicket-taker, Alfonso Thomas. The home team made a good start, racing to 52/0 off just 5 overs, before Abdul Razzaq skied a delivery from James Trego to Craig Kieswetter. Gone for 33 off 19, Hampshire would have hoped to capitalize from his good start. It wasn't to be, as James Vince was run out to a good piece of fielding by James Hildreth for a two-ball duck, and Hampshire were suddenly 62/2. Neil McKenzie and Jimmy Adams rebuilt the innings, but Adams fell to Arul Suppiah's first ball, playing on for 34 off 24. Hampshire lost 3 wickets for 39 runs, but remained ahead of the run rate. Sean Ervine and McKenzie survived a nervy couple of overs, as both batsmen and fielders struggled with the wet outfield and slippery ball. But when McKenzie took 17 runs off Ben Phillips' 14th over, Hampshire needed just 43 from 36. McKenzie eventually brought up his 50 from just 36 balls, but Phillips got his revenge, removing McKenzie, and then a wildly-swinging Michael Carberry later in the over, to leave Hampshire unsteady at 166/5. Had the substitute fielder held a tough chance at deep square leg, things might have been even worse.
8 runs required off the last 6, to be bowled by Zander de Bruyn. Daniel Christian and Sean Ervine ran for everything, including stealing byes when Craig Kieswetter twice failed to hit the stumps. Christian hammered the fifth ball to the boundary, but some brilliant fielding saved 2 runs. In making his ground, Christian pulled a muscle, requiring a runner to come out and run for him with just one ball left and 2 runs to score. Adding to the confusion was that there were no creases marked on the outfield for the runner. So with just one ball left in the final, play was held up as the groundsman trundled out with a bucket of paint and a plank to paint the crease-lines for Jimmy Adams to run by. When the final ball was bowled, Christian survived a vociferous LBW appeal (Hawk-Eye guessed that the ball would just have nudged the leg stump), and then took off for the leg-bye himself - possibly in contravention of the rules? Who knew at that point? Both he and Jimmy Adams ran for the bowler's end, Adams eventually slipping after he had made his ground (or did Christian running negate the run? Again, who knew?). But the run had tied the game - both teams finished on 173 - and since Hampshire had lost only 5 wickets to Somerset's 6, they were crowned the first Friends Provident T20 champions.
So after some big hitting, crafty bowling, good catches, dropped catches, wet outfields, two injuries and some painting, Hampshire somehow found themselves with the Friends Provident trophy. Both teams played incredibly well, and a tie might have been the just result in any other game. But a winner was needed here, and amidst many twists and turns, it was Dominic Cork's final over that was the game-changing one. Stopping Kieron Pollard's onslaught was one thing, but taking two wickets in that over turned out to be the decisive blow to Somerset. There aren't going to be any English teams in the upcoming Champions League, and based on what the Rose Bowl saw on Saturday, that tournament will be the poorer for it.