SOUTHAMPTON, England, CMC-West Indies T20 captain Darren Sammy delivered with bat and ball in an exciting debut that helped Hampshire pull off a nine run win over Kent in the NatWest T20 blasted here yesterday.
Sammy scored 27 runs from 15 balls, his contribution to an innings which stumbled at times before getting to 158 for 8 in their 20 overs at The Rose Bowl in Southampton.
The St. Lucian all-rounder returned to capture two wickets for 20 runs from three overs to upset Kent’s run chase which began in convincing fashion but eventually collapsed with three balls remaining.
Sammy’s knock included two fours and a six and his score was the second highest to opener Michael Carberry who top scored with 54.
The champions Windies skipper was eventually caught by Denly off Coles who had top figures of four for 27.
Kent was off to an impressive start with a 75 run stand for the first wicket between Daniel Bell-Drummond who top scored with 64 and Joe Denly who contributed 31.
But no other batsmen passed 20 as Sammy, Shahid Afridi and Gareth Berg destroyed the Kent line-up, bowling them out for 149.
Sammy picked up his two wickets in two balls, Berg grabbed two for 30 while Afridi, who bowled a crucial spell, finished with three for 33 after scoring a rapid 21.
The match was Sammy’s first T20 international after leading West Indies to title honours in the World T20 tournament recently.
