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South Africa batter Tristan Stubbs hopped from one league to another but still managed to win the ‘Player of the match’ award for his unbeaten 69. On May 24, Stubbs played the last league stage game for Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. On May 25, he took the flight to England and join Hampshire Hawks for the ongoing T20 Blast 2026. On May 26, he made his T20 Blast debut and scored an unbeaten half-century against Essex at Southampton's County Ground.
"I only landed at eight o'clock last night! I got to my accommodation just after ten and was here just after seven-thirty [in the morning] All of my pre-match routine that I normally do was never going to happen,” Stubbs said as quoted by BBC Sport.
“I was hitting the ball really well from the start, I was just hitting the fielders. I felt really good.”
Stubbs plays himself in
The proteas batter walked into bat at no.5 when Hampshire were 52/3 in the seventh over. Stubbs did not get going straightaway. He faced four dot deliveries against Matthew Critchley. He hit his first boundary in the ninth over. The first six of his bat came off Proteas teammate Simon Harmer's bowling in the 14th over. In the same over, Harmer dismissed Joe Weatherley who scored 47 runs from 34 deliveries. They shared a 64-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Stubbs, Cartwright go berserk in last 4 overs
In the 17th over, he reached his maiden T20 Blast fifty with a six off Luc Benkenstein. He reached the milestone from 33 deliveries. In the slog overs, Hilton Cartwright went berserk as well. From 130/4 in 16 overs, they posted 200/4 on the board. Stubbs finished the innings with a six off Charlie Bennett. Cartwright hit five fours and two sixes in his 21-ball 46. They shared an unbeaten 84-run partnership from 36 deliveries. Stubbs' knock featured five sixes and three fours.
Currie takes four-fer
In the run chase, Essex lost three wickets in the powerplay overs as Scott Currie and Chris Wood used the new ball well. Benkenstein's 31-ball 48 and skipper Harmer's unbeaten 18-ball 36 wasn't enough to get Essex close to the target. They managed to post 170/7 and lost the match by 30 runs. Currie was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets for 18 runs in his quota of four overs.
This is Hampshire's first win of the tournament. In the previous game, they lost to Somerset by seven wickets.
Stubbs' run in IPL 2026
DC's Stubbs did not have the best of the seasons. From 13 innings, he managed to score 275 runs at an average of 34.37 and strike rate of 127.31. He scored two half-centuries last month. It is yet to be seen whether DC let go of Stubbs who was retained of Rs 10 crore.
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