Essex Men v Hampshire Hawks Men
Vitality Blast
Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, Chelmsford
Thursday 17 July 2025 | 7pm start
Team News
Essex: Michael Pepper, Paul Walter, Jordan Cox (wk), Charlie Allison, Matt Critchley, Luc Benkenstein, Noah Thain, Simon Harmer, Shane Snater, Mackenzie Jones, Mohammad Amir.
Hampshire Hawks: Toby Albert, Tom Prest, Joe Weatherley, Hilton Cartwright, Benny Howell, James Fuller, Liam Dawson, Fletcaha Middleton, Chris Wood (c), Scott Currie, Sonny Baker.
Match Details
Umpires: Neil Bainton & Simon Widdup
Scorers: Paul Parkinson & Fiona Newnham
Toss: Essex Men won the toss who elected to bowl
Result: Essex Men won by 4 wickets
Match Reaction: Jordan Cox
Match Highlights
Match Report
Jordan Cox produced the highest individual score of this year’s Men’s Vitality Blast to keep Hampshire Hawks sweating over a quarter-final spot.
The explosive batter hammered a stunning 139 off just 60 balls — the second-highest T20 score in Essex history — as the already-eliminated Eagles signed off with three wins from their last four matches.
Hampshire had set a daunting target of 221, powered by 84 from Toby Albert, alongside a rapid 41 off 24 from Tom Prest and a blistering 56 off 23 from Hilton Cartwright.
But Cox’s fireworks sealed the victory in the final over with two towering sixes. Hampshire now sit in the top four, having completed their fixtures, but must hope that neither Sussex Sharks nor Kent Spitfires record big wins that would knock them out of contention.
The Hawks were without captain James Vince due to illness, with Chris Wood stepping in as skipper for only the second time in the Blast. Fellow opener Chris Lynn remained sidelined with a hamstring injury, which saw Prest promoted to open with Albert.
Despite averaging just 6.5 in the competition before this game, Prest sparked Hampshire’s charge in the powerplay, which yielded 53 runs — though only 11 came from the exceptional Mohammad Amir.
Prest raced to 41 from 24 balls before falling lbw to Luc Benkenstein, and Joe Weatherley quickly followed, caught at deep square. From there, Albert and Cartwright took control, hammering the Essex attack to all parts with 134 runs coming in the final 10 overs.
Albert anchored while Cartwright played the aggressor — their contrasting approaches reflected in the timing of their fifties: 40 balls for Albert, 21 for Cartwright. Cartwright especially enjoyed the short Chelmsford boundaries, launching four of his five sixes straight down the ground.
Their 94-run stand marked the second time in three games they had led the scoring. Cartwright eventually holed out, and Benny Howell followed soon after.
Albert then took on Amir with five consecutive boundaries in one over before falling trying to end it with a flourish. James Fuller smashed two sixes and a four before being caught in the final over by Mackenzie Jones.
At 221, the total looked commanding, but Essex came out swinging.
Paul Walter and Michael Pepper plundered 19 off Sonny Baker’s second over, though both fell in quick succession. That brought Cox to the crease — and he never looked back.
Cox smashed 19 off Fuller and followed with assaults of 19 and 27 off Howell, whose two overs ultimately cost 46 runs.
Wickets continued to fall around him — Charlie Allison, Matt Critchley, Benkenstein and Noah Thain all came and went — but Cox powered his way to a maiden T20 century in just 47 balls.
With 26 needed from the final two overs, Simon Harmer was dropped over the boundary before Cox hammered a monstrous six over midwicket.
Eleven were needed from the last over, and Cox finished the job with two sweet strikes down the ground — overtaking Dan Lawrence’s 120 earlier in the competition and placing only behind Graham Napier’s 152 in Essex T20 history.
Purchase your England v India tickets!
The England Men under 19s are playing in a four day Test match at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground this summer!
They will face India Men under 19s, including 14-year old IPL superstar Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who became the youngest player bought in an IPL auction after being selected by Rajasthan Royals. He is also the youngest player to score a century in IPL history!
Day one will begin on July 20 with the final day concluding on July 23.
Tickets are still available via our Ticket Site, so have a browse and get yourself down to CM2 to watch the next generation of international cricketers.
