Harry Swindells registered his maiden List A hundred as his 96-ball 117 and excellent bowling in the last two overs by Chris Wright and Josh Hull helped Leicestershire win the One Day Cup for the first time. Chasing 268 for victory in a see-saw final at Trent Bridge on Saturday (September 16), half-centuries from Liam Dawson and Tom Prest kept Hampshire in the reckoning but they missed out by a narrow margin in the end, failing to get 12 in the last two overs as they finished runners-up for the second time since 2019.
After a steady start to the chase, Hampshire lost openers Nick Gubbins and Fletcha Middleton in quick succession to be 38/2 in 9 overs. A half-century from Tom Prest and a useful 33 from Ben Brown got the chase back on track. But it got derailed again due to quick wickets as Wright sparked a middle-order collapse that saw Hampshire, going well at 117/2, slip to 136/5. Joe Weatherley and Dawson then put together a partnership worth 82 to take Hampshire past the 200 mark. Weatherley, however, missed out on fifty as he fell ten short, getting out to Colin Ackermann.
Ian Holland struck a quick 16 before becoming Wiaan Mulder’s second scalp. But Leicestershire found it difficult to dislodge Dawson, who got the equation down to 25 off the last three overs. A six for Dawson off Hull eased the pressure a bit for Hampshire but Wright kept it tight in the 49th, giving away only three runs. Needing eight off the final over, Hull conceded singles off the first three balls before he picked up the big wicket of Dawson. Keith Barker needed to score a boundary off the final ball but all he could manage was a single as Leicestershire won by two runs.
Earlier, a rearguard action from Swindells and Evans helped Leicestershire post a competitive total after Barker and Scott Currie caused a top-order collapse. Opting to bat, Leicestershire found themselves reeling at 89/6 inside the first half of their innings. Skipper Lewis Hill scored a fighting 42 but wickets at regular intervals meant that Hampshire gained early advantage in the contest. But Leicestershire crept back into the game thanks to a 151-run association between Swindells and Evans for the seventh wicket.
Swindells and Evans took a cautious approach as they went about rebuilding, but the former made good ground after crossing fifty. Leicestershire were 181/6 after 40 overs, with Swindells on 59 off 65. He then scored his next 58 runs off only 31 deliveries as he helped his side score 86 runs off the last 10 overs. Evans, who had played a good supporting role, was dismissed in the 48th over but Swindells ensured a positive finish to the innings as he ended up with eight fours and three sixes. All his three maximums came in the last 10 overs, along with three fours.
Brief scores: Leicestershire 267/7 in 50 overs (Harry Swindells 117*, Samuel Evans 60; Scott Currie 3-63) beat Hampshire 265/8 in 50 overs (Liam Dawson 57, Tom Prest 51; Wiaan Mulder 2-43) by 2 runs.
