HAMPSHIRE will resist the temptation to promote Dimitri Mascarenhas up the order for tonight's crunch Twenty20 clash against the Kent Spitfires.

Captain Shaun Udal knows that Hampshire may miss out on a quarter-final place on run rate if they beat Kent and the Essex Eagles win against the Sussex Sharks. If Sussex pull off a shock win in front of a partisan Chelmsford crowd, the winners of tonight's match at the Rose Bowl will automatically qualify as runners-up.

But there is the possibility that Hampshire will miss out even if they pull off a third successive win as only Notts (-0.46) have a worse run rate than the Hawks' -0.42 out of the other teams in contention for a third-place finish.

But that could all change tonight with more big hitting from Mascarenhas, who smashed 52 from 22 balls against Middlesex.

The all-rounder did not arrive at the crease until the 15th over on Tuesday but Hampshire will stick with the same side and the formula that earned them a 30-run win against the Crusaders.

Udal said: "We're not going to risk putting Dimi in earlier because if he gets a good ball and we lose him it's a gamble that hasn't come off. When we batted against Middlesex everyone knew what they had to do and Dimi was awesome. He proved how destructive he can be when he's given a free rein.

"John Crawley didn't manage to bat through but Michael Clarke came good. He hasn't done it too often but he played as we all know he can and we always knew that, with our attack, 170 would be enough."

Udal is also unlikely to ask Kent to bat if he wins the toss tonight. "We had a chat before the Middlesex game and decided, to the surprise of a few people, that we were going to bat first because at the moment we're better at setting targets than chasing them - we don't seem to panic as much."

Hampshire will concentrate on beating Kent tonight before worrying about the mathematics.

Udal added: "We didn't look like we had a chance of qualifying last week but if all goes well we will go though as runners-up. I've talked to Paul Terry and Tim Tremlett and if we win we should go through. We've just got to try and win as well as we can." Hampshire (probable): Udal, Crawley, Watson, Clarke, Lamb, Mascarenhas, Prittipaul, Pothas, Tremlett, Taylor, Bruce.

See today's Daily Echo for 'SPIDER' - Alan Mullally's weekly offbeat look at the world of cricket