Hampshire v Kent (Tues, 7pm)
Monday 31st July 2017
Kent Spitfires name an unchanged squad for the trip to Hampshire in the NatWest T20 Blast on Tuesday (7pm start).
Sam Northeast says a win at Southampton will help the Spitfires maintain their hopes of quarter-final qualification.
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The 27-year-old, who has struck three half-centuries in the last four matches, said: “We have to get a result, pick ourselves up and believe.
“They’ll have Afridi, Crane and Dawson back from international duty so I’m sure they won’t produce a road for us and it will be a battle of the spin.”
Sam Northeast may consider playing a second specialist spinner with Imran Qayyum in contention for a recall and New Zealand paceman Adam Milne sidelined with a thigh injury.
The Spitfires skipper paid tribute to opener Joe Denly, the top scorer in the South Group, with 336 runs at a strike rate of 160 per 100 balls.
The 31-year-old’s form has earned him a nomination for the PCA Player of the Month for July 2017 – an accolade the captain believes he richly deserves.
Northeast said: “Joe’s been fantastic. Coming in from the Championship, he’s been playing the best I’ve seen from him for a very long time.
“He’s been playing absolutely out of his skin and I’m sure people are looking at him as a potential England player again. He’s in the kind of form where he got selected before.”
Kent Spitfires squad: 23 Daniel Bell-Drummond, 6 Joe Denly, 17 Sam Northeast (c), 7 Sam Billings (wk), 83 Jimmy Neesham, 10 Alex Blake, 3 Darren Stevens, 25 Calum Haggett, 26 Matt Coles, 15 James Tredwell, 8 Mitch Claydon, 11 Imran Qayyum.
Hampshire squad: 14 James Vince (c), 8 Lewis McManus (wk), 6 Reece Topley, 00 Shahid Afridi, 32 Mason Crane, 9 Tom Alsop, 10 George Bailey, 30 Rilee Rossouw, 13 Gareth Berg, 82 Fidel Edwards, 7 Sean Ervine, 87 Kyle Abbott, 8 Liam Dawson, 58 Brad Wheal, 25 Chris Wood.
