FRIENDS PROVIDENT t20, The Rose Bowl:
Hampshire 116-5 (19.4 ovs) beat Kent 114-9 (20 ovs) by five wickets
Hampshire 2pts
Match scorecard

Pothas hit two fours in his unbeaten 15

Nic Pothas hit the winning runs with two balls to spare as Hampshire began their FP t20 campaign with a low-scoring five-wicket victory over Kent.

Hampshire made hard work of it after limiting Kent to 114-9, in which only Darren Stevens (36) passed 15.

Their reply got off to the worst possible start, England World Twenty20 opener Michael Lumb out first ball.

Sean Ervine hit a brisk 31 but Pothas and Neil McKenzie saw them home on 116-5 with an unbroken stand of 23.

The one major disappointment for Hampshire was the recurrence of captain Dimitri Mascarenhas' Achilles injury, which forced him to limp off after he had bowled three overs.

Mascarenhas, who has already missed the first two months of the season after picking up the injury playing in the Indian Premier League, is now expected to be out for a further three weeks.

Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens told BBC Radio Kent:

"Our preparation wasnt too great, there was a bit of traffic on the way here and we should have looked to get here earlier this afternoon.

"We got here in drips and drabs and we weren't really on it."

BBC Radio Solent's Kevan James reflects on the game:
"This was always a tricky match first up for Hampshire considering Kent's pedigree in this competition.

"A low-scoring match went Hampshire's way thanks to a disciplined bowling performance and the fact that Hampshire were chasing a relatively low total."

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