Hampshire (138) lost to Worcestershire (246-8) by 108 runs

If Hampshire are to qualify for the Friends Provident Trophy quarter finals, they will have to beat Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

That is the task facing Giles White’s side after an embarrassingly one-sided defeat against the Worcestershire Royals at an overcast New Road.

Having lost their opening FP Trophy match against Worcestershire by 53 runs last month, Hampshire needed to win the return fixture to consolidate their position as group A leaders.

But instead they were well beaten, by 108 runs, after being bowled out for 138 in a forlorn pursuit of the 247-run target.

The forecast rain stayed away so Hampshire’s innings suffered a slow death on a grey afternoon.

Hampshire were unchanged from the side that disposed of Nottinghamshire at the Rose Bowl two days earlier - but the performance bore no resemblance.

After winning the toss, Worcestershire seized the initiative. Dominic Cork endured an afternoon to forget, conceding 30 runs from his opening three-over spell.

But after Vikram Solanki, Stephen Moore and Steven Davies were dismissed during the first 15 powerplay overs, Billy Taylor and teenage left-arm duo Danny Briggs and Liam Dawson reined the hosts back – before Worcestershire rallied.

Davies had blasted a 22-ball 34 to set the tone for Worcestershire’s dominant performance.

And Hampshire conceded 62 off the last six overs with the Worcestershire tail clubbing some vital runs before turning the screw with the ball.

Cork was far from happy when Ian Fisher was dropped by Tom Burrows midway through his 17-ball 31 not out.

And when Sean Ervine was thumped for two sixes in the final over, the momentum was well and truly with the home side.

Australian seamer Ashley Noffke had put Worcestershire in the ascendancy with a 39-ball 29 before rocking the visitors with the wickets of Michael Lumb and John Crawley in his opening spell.

Having been floored by a Cork bouncer, Noffke responded with one of his two sixes, carving the former England all-rounder over the extra-cover boundary for a juicy maximum.

The adrenaline was still pumping when he took the new ball. He bowled Lumb with a yorker and after Ervine and Michael Carberry were dismissed in successive Matt Mason overs, he snared Crawley at short leg.

Liam Dawson went in similar fashion and the slow, used wicket was not to Dimitri Mascarenhas’s liking either.

When the Hampshire captain holed out to long on it was just a question of how long Worcestershire would need to take the last four wickets.

Ireland are Hampshire’s next opponents in a day/night match at the Rose Bowl on Monday.

Assuming they win that, Hampshire will almost certainly need to complete the double against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on Wednesday to make the last eight.

The bad news is that they will have to do so without captain Mascarenhas, who manager Giles White expects to be with the England squad ahead of their one-day series against West Indies, which starts on Thursday.

But Imran Tahir is due to arrive at the Rose Bowl tomorrow in time for his first game of the season, against Ireland.

Hampshire bowling: Cork 8-0-62-1, Mascarenhas 10-1-46-2, Taylor 10-0-37-3, Briggs 10-2-34-0, Dawson 8-0-31-2, Carberry 2-0-10-0, Ervine 2-0-21-0

Worcestershire bowling: Mason 9-1-25-2, Noffke 8-0-22-2, Fisher 8-0-34-1, Whelan 6.5-0-27-4, Batty 7-0-23-1