JOHN Crawley knows Hampshire have to beat Essex at the Rose Bowl tonight to keep their Twenty20 hopes alive.

Crawley has led his side to a win and a defeat so far in the competition but a loss tonight will put almost certainly end Hampshire's hopes of progressing to the finals day at Trent Bridge next month.

Group leaders Surrey have already won all three of their Twenty20 games and they play in the last of the three games at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday.

But for Hampshire to be in with a chance next week, they will have to win two points tonight and then beat Middlesex and Surrey in the space of 24 hours.

Crawley said: "I don't usually pay too much attention to group tables until the last couple of games but we know that we have to win our three remaining games if we are to go up as group winners or as the best runners up, there's no doubt about that."

The heroics of Kent's Andrew Symonds on Monday night were a major blow to Hampshire's chances of progressing but Crawley remains confident.

He added: "Unfortunately we were annihilated at Beckenham but sometimes you just have to applaud someone with the talent and the ability of Andrew Symonds. He was just awesome, it was a special knock.

"There's not a huge amount you can do as a captain in that situation, when he's hitting more than 20 runs off your main bowlers. The most encouraging thing was to see Wasim take 2-29 from his four overs, which, in those circumstances, was a great effort." Hampshire captain Crawley added: "The competition has been a huge success. The first night at the Rose Bowl was a huge night for the club and everyone involved, and there was another great atmosphere at Beckenham.

"The only thing that has surprised me is how quickly the teams are getting the overs in.

"We were told we would have to rush and got the impression we would have to run between overs but that hasn't been the case.

"That's the only thing that has surprised me. Most of the scores have been what I thought they would be, around 160-180."

Crawley won his the toss in his first seven one day games as Hampshire captain - but has lost both calls in the Twenty20 Cup.

"It's quite an advantage to know what you've got to chase but losing the toss doesn't really matter in the Twenty20," he added. Against Kent, the pitch was quite dry but held together very well."