McDermott finds form as Hawks claim first Blast win

Ben McDermott has shared in a club record opening partnership with James Vince to help the Hampshire Hawks secure their first win of England's T20 Blast season.

The Hobart Hurricanes dasher clubbed 60 off 35 balls with five sixes in his fifth match for the Hawks as they posted an imposing 6-199 from their 20 overs against Sussex Sharks in Southampton.

His first county T20 fifty will come as a welcome boost for the Tasmanian right-hander who had reached double figures in three of his previous four innings but had failed to progress past 40 so far this season.

The 27-year-old, who now has 156 runs at a strike rate of 141 in his five T20 Blast innings, put on 124 for the first wicket with Vince, which was Hampshire's best T20 opening stand ever, passing the 122 set by Michael Carberry and Mitchell Stokes against Middlesex in 2006.

"We just set out to go hard and be positive, we saw a little bit of luck fall our way and I think that just comes with being brave," McDermott said after the win.

Image Id: EC5F0F4B1B8645B58ED64371B819AA79 Image Caption: McDermott and Vince shared a club record opening stand // Getty

"A couple of bowler friendly wickets to start with was low scoring and (I had) a couple of little starts here and there but just wasn't able to do it for long periods of time.

"Hopefully it's a little bit of a kick start to something to come but it's been a positive start (to the tournament)."

Former Sydney Sixers international recruit Vince finished with 65 from 41 balls while West Indies fast bowler Obed McCoy (1-52) conceded 13 runs an over.

McDermott's Tigers and Hurricanes teammate Nathan Ellis claimed 1-24 from his four overs to help restrict Sussex to 6-177 in reply.

Josh Philippe's Sussex replacement Tim Seifert gave the Sharks hope of pulling off a miraculous chase with an unbeaten 100 from 56 balls but he couldn't find an ally as they fell 22 runs short.

Philippe hit 119 runs in four matches for Sussex prior to travelling to Sri Lanka for the Australia A tour. He is expected to return to the Sharks for the end of the T20 Blast season once the A tour concludes on June 24.

Image Id: 7E644624E00A425D8FA12240ABE4C8A2 Image Caption: Ellis bowls for Hampshire against Sussex // Getty

Hampshire had lost their first four matches, but victory helped them jump off the bottom of the South Group, while Sussex remain fourth with three wins and three losses.

McDermott and Ellis are next in action on Wednesday morning Australian eastern time when Hampshire take on Middlesex.

Aussies Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser feature for Glamorgan tonight against Surrey while AJ Tye goes head-to-head with axed Brisbane Heat opener Chris Lynn and WA teammate Matt Kelly when Durham takes on Northamptonshire.

Middlesex's Jason Behrendorff and Chris Green travel to Canterbury to face Kent and Dan Christian and James Pattinson will play for Notts against Birmingham.

Australians in 2022 English T20 Blast

Birmingham: Nathan McAndrew

Derbyshire: Hayden Kerr

Durham: Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye

Essex: Daniel Sams

Glamorgan: Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser

Gloucestershire: Marcus Harris

Hampshire: Nathan Ellis, Ben McDermott

Lancashire: Tim David

Middlesex: Jason Behrendorff, Chris Green

Northamptonshire: Matthew Kelly, Chris Lynn

Nottinghamshire: Dan Christian, James Pattinson

Somerset: Peter Siddle

Sussex: Josh Philippe