Hampshire's quarter-final hope look slim after two gets and five defeats
Visa problems have prevented Ottneil Baartman, the South African hard bowler, from joining Hampshire for the rest of the T20 Blast.
Baartman, who made six looks at the T20 World Cup during South Africa's move to the last, was due to play for Hampshire in their last six team sports. But his appearance was delayed due to unknown "visa concerns" and the league announced on Friday that, with their quarter-final hopes narrow, his package has been cancelled.
" We would like to hope Ottneil all the best and expect to see him in a Hawks clothing in the future," Hampshire said in a league speech. Baartman immediately signed as a replacement for Naveen-ul-Haq, who pulled out of his agreement with Hampshire citing "personal factors" and is instead playing for Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket.
Hampshire is eighth in the nine-team South Group of the Blast ahead of Friday night's game against Gloucestershire at the Ageas Bowl, having won two games, three no-results, and five losses. The bottom four teams may need to get all four of their remaining games in order to advance because they have qualified for the quarter-finals.
" We'll have to do some mathematics to see if we may still count," Adi Birrell, their coach, said after their most recent battle to Sussex. " I ca n't really think that two wins out of ten gives us a chance of getting through to the quarter-finals but we'll have to have a look at it.
" We had three rained-off game, which has given us a few items, but we're not truly playing well enough to go through … we were a little off in all sections [against Sussex], as we have been throughout the plan. We have n't really put in a good performance in all departments. "
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