Royal London One-Day Cup Semi-final 1, Hampshire vs Lancashire: Preview, likely XIs, predictions

On May 12, defending champions Hampshire will host Lancashire for the second semi-final of the Royal London One-Day Cup, at the Rose Bowl, Southampton. Hampshire have won the title five times – but then, so have Lancashire. However, Lancashire’s last trophy came way back in 1999.

Hampshire have been phenomenal this season, winning 7 of their 8 league matches and qualifying directly for the semi-final. They have batted first 6 times in the tournament, crossing 300 five times and putting up 292 once. In one of their chases, too, they scored at over 7 an over. They have also bowled their opposition out 5 times.

Lancashire’s 9 matches have resulted in 6 wins. They were clinical in their Playoff, thrashing Middlesex by 120 runs at Lord’s, thanks to Keaton Jennings (96), Steven Croft (68), and Dane Vilas (70*), and Saqib Mahmood (4/38).

Head to head

Lancashire holds a clear 35-21 advantage in head-to-head clashes. They last met four years ago, at the same ground. The South Africans, Ashwell Prince (102) and Alviro Petersen (82), had taken Lancashire to 301/4 that day. Kyle Jarvis, a third South African, then took 3/46 to bowl out Hampshire for 272 even as Adam Wheater scored 111 and Liam Dawson 52.

Key players

Aiden Markram (Hampshire): With James Vince on national duty, the onus is on Markram to rise to the situation. Markram has scored 88 (against Surrey), 130 (Sussex), and 61 (Somerset) in his last three matches, and needs another 56 to become the leading run-scorer in the tournament.

Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire): Mahmood now has 25 wickets in the tournament, the joint most (Nathan Sowter also has 25). He had not quite delivered towards the end of the league phase since taking 11/51 from 2 matches. However, he came to his own in the Playoff, taking 4/38 to rout Middlesex and clinch the Player of the Match award.

Likely XIs

Hampshire: Tom Alsop (wk), Aneurin Donald, Aiden Markram, Sam Northeast (c), Rilee Rossouw, Liam Dawson, James Fuller, Gareth Berg, Kyle Abbott, Fidel Edwards, Mason Crane.

Lancashire: Keaton Jennings, Liam Livingstone, Steven Croft, Dane Vilas (c & wk), Jake Lehmann, Rob Jones, Josh Bohannon, Steven Croft, Saqib Mahmood, Graham Onions, James Anderson, Matt Parkinson.

Prediction

Hampshire, the better side this season, to win at home.