SOUTHERN Premier XI skipper Richard Scott admitted his side's hopes had been blitzed by Hampshire's opening bowling pair in their 61-run defeat to Hampshire.

Chris Tremlett, returning from injury, and left-arm seamer James Tomlinson grabbed five wickets between them to leave the representative side reeling at 10-6.

And, though a lower-order rally pulled them up to 94-7, Scott pinpointed the opening burst as the key to their downfall.

He said: "Once they had got 155, Tremlett and Tomlinson came at us hard and knocked a few over, as they should do.

"We needed an extraordinary start to get up to their score but, with those two bowling at pace, the game was over at 10-6.

"But we batted all the way down and Richard Hindley showed what a good player he is and Tom Morton batted well with him."

Scott was also left to rue a clutch of missed opportunities, most of which allowed Sean Ervine to play the game's key innings of 68 in Hampshire's 155-7.

He said: "We had our chances early and could have had Ervine a number of times but he played beautifully in between.

"They are a fit side and ran well between the wickets, and the back-up for the opening bowlers was good so we were up against it chasing 155."

The victory handed Hampshire some payback for the Twenty20 defeats suffered at the hands of the Southern Premier League in 2004.

Scott said: "The difference between the players this year and those that turned up two years ago was these (Hampshire) lads all wanted to do well and were playing for places.

"They was an intensity and that is testament to what Paul Terry and Shane Warne have done there."

Terry, meanwhile, was pleased to see the return of Tremlett as his side warmed up nicely for the start of the Twenty20 Cup on June 27.

He said: "The game gave him the opportunity to bowl a few overs.

"He's not done much bowling for us yet and has a bit to do in terms of match fitness yet.

"But for all the guys it was another game as there is not going to be a lot of cricket for some of them over the next few weeks."