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The Hampshire captain Dimitri Mascarenhas
battled the pain of twice tearing tendons in his shoulder in recent
weeks to lead the county to the Friends Life t20 title with victory
against Yorkshire.
Mascarenhas needed fitness tests before both the semi-final against
Somerset and the final and did not bat in either match even though his
clean striking would have been valuable in the closing stages of the
innings. When asked before the final how the injury was effecting his
bowling he said: "I can't get much slower."
Mascarenhas played a crucial role with the ball on Finals Day - his
nagging medium pace proving difficult to score off on a sluggish pitch -
taking a miserly 2 for 11 in the semi-final which he followed with 2
for 20 against Yorkshire to leave Hampshire chasing 151 for victory.
Despite an onslaught by David Miller, who struck 72 off 46 balls,
Hampshire held their nerve in the closing overs as Danny Briggs and
Chris Wood followed the impressive work of their captain.
"I've torn my lat tendon. I tore it two weeks ago and then I tore it
again last week when I tried to play CB40," Mascarenhas said. "I had a
scan and it's torn so I had to grin and bear it. It was a huge stress to
be honest. It's not one of those where you can have an injection.
"We were trying to sort out team selection if I didn't play and for the
team balance. It's not easy when your captain is looking like he's not
going to be fit. I was lucky enough to get through. I actually felt a
bit better in the final - maybe it was the adrenaline. It took me
through it. It felt a lot sorer in the semi-final, I felt like I was
bowling a bit faster in the final."
It was Hampshire's second Twenty20 title in three seasons following
their victory in 2010 when they won by losing fewer wickets against
Somerset. However, they began this year's Finals Day as the least
favoured of the four teams to make an impact.
"Personally for me - it's the best one by far," he said. "I missed the
first win two years ago because I was injured. To win two games today
and captain a young and inexperienced side was a great thrill and one
I'll remember for a long time."
There were much different emotions for Andrew Gale,
the Yorkshire captain, who had seen his side produce a superb all-round
display in the semi-final against Sussex led by Jonny Bairstow's 68 off
45 balls. However, in both matches Yorkshire's top order failed to fire
and, despite Miller's fantastic display, they had too much ground to
make up in the final.
"When we were 40-odd for four I thought someone had to play very well to
get us in a position to win and David played out of his skin," Gale
said. "Going into the last over I was backing us. Unfortunately it
didn't go our way but fair play to David for getting us in a position to
win that game because we were dead and buried.
"If it wasn't for him we would have been nowhere; we could have been
bowled out for 80. It would have been nice for us to spray that
champagne around, I'm not going to lie, but when we reflect on this
we'll see we've achieved something as a group."
Still, there is consolation for Yorkshire. Both finalists have earned
places at the Champions League Twenty20 which will be held in South
Africa during October although English teams have to go through the
pre-qualifying phase before joining the main tournament.
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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