Wasim Akram, Robin Smith and Chris Tremlett hardly deserved to finish on the losing side in yesterday's Rose Bowl thriller.
The three outstanding performances on either side were Smith's 92, Wasim's 3-17 and Tremlett's 2-26 - but Middlesex Crusaders won by four wickets off the last ball.
A whirlwind 30 from 22 balls from Abdul Razzaq, including three huge sixes off Shaun Udal in Middlesex's 42nd over, culminated in a seven-run victory target off the last over for the visitors, with Tremlett the bowler.
Tremlett had gone for just 17 from his eight overs before he was handed the task of limiting the last to less than a run a ball.
When Razzaq miscued a drive to Udal at mid-on, he was on course - three were needed from the last two balls.
And with two needed from the last delivery all three results were still possible.
Ben Hutton, grandson of England legend Len, was facing his first ball - the force seemed to be with Tremlett. But Hampshire's England Academy prospect over pitched and Hutton drove confidently to the cover boundary.
Wasim had once again proved that his powers are as strong as ever with the ball. A first spell of 2-3 from five overs, including the two wickets of captain Andrew Strauss and Owais Shah in his fifth over, had put Hampshire in control.
Strauss was the first to fall, caught at mid-wicket, but after Shah departed for a third ball duck Phil Weekes and Ed Joyce put on 62 in 18 overs before the latter was trapped leg before by a ball from Dimitri Mascarenhas that kept low. It was then that a stand of 63 in 11 overs between Weekes and David Nash kept Middlesex in the hunt. But when both fell in successive overs Hampshire Hawks were in the ascendancy.
An outstanding catch from Will Kendall at backward point did for Nash. Kendall was still in the air when he clung on to an screamer above his head from Nash, who had made his 28 from 39 balls.
It was in the second over of Wasim's second spell that the left-handed Weekes succumbed, mis-timing a drive to Smith at mid-off, having made 53 from 114 balls. But it was that other Pakistani all-rounder who decided to steal the show at that point.
Razzaq effectively won the match for Middlesex in Udal's last over, which began with the visitors needing 34 runs to win from 24 balls.
A straight six off the first ball swung the advantage Middlesex's way, then another maximum hit over mid-wicket with the fourth and, finally, a straight six with the last ball seemed to end Hampshire's chances.
Twenty runs had come from the over and Middlesex needed just 14 from the last three with five wickets still in hand. That Tremlett and Wasim still gave Hampshire a realistic chance of winning with one ball left spoke volumes.
Wasim's big match temperament shone through. He went for just three runs off the penultimate over and Tremlett had shown impressive composure with the first five balls of the last, including the wicket of Razzaq with the fourth ball, before Hutton struck the winning runs.
Hampshire's day had begun as disappointingly as it ended. Derek Kenway lost his off stump as he shouldered arms while the Bank Holiday crowd were still taking their seats. John Crawley played on in the 12th over but Simon Katich showed his class before he lost his middle stump as he attempted to cut, having put on 36 at four an over with Smith. That at least put Hampshire in charge but spare a thought for James Hamblin, whose 40-ball 33 came to an end when Smith hurtled down the wicket towards him.
It had been Hamblin's call, he had hit the ball to mid-off, but he had little choice but to run to the non striker's end, where Weekes ran him out by four yards. Mascarenhas's straight drive to the fence with the last ball of the innings nearly proved crucial, it at least helped set up a fantastic finish.
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