OTTNIEL BAARTMAN TO HAVE A BLAST WITH HAMPSHIRE HAWKS

Betway SA20 Bowler of the Season, Ottniel Baartman will play for Hampshire Hawks in the Vitality Blast.

The 31-year-old Sunrisers Eastern Cape star has been signed as a replacement for Durban's Super Giants' Naveen-ul-Haq and is set to play in Hampshire's final six Blast group matches - once he has returned from the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Should they advance to the knockout stages in September, Baartman will also feature in those.

Baartman will reconnect with two familiar faces when he arrives on England's south coast.

"I'm really looking forward to joining up with Hampshire Hawks for my first experience of county cricket, it's great to link back up with Adi Birrell and Liam Dawson who I know well from the SA20. I've heard great things about the atmosphere at Utilita Bowl and I can't wait to get playing in front of the Hawks fans this summer," Baartman said in a Hampshire press release.

Sunrisers head coach Birrell is in the same role at Hampshire while English spinning-allrounder Dawson will once again be a teammate.

"Luckily I got to play with him at Sunrisers, and he’s a fantastic ‘death’ bowler. He embraces big moments in games and if any Hampshire fans watched [SA20] he closed out a lot of games for us, so he’s a brilliant signing and will obviously be a good fit for our team at Hampshire," Dawson told Hampshire media.

Birrell, meanwhile, has coached Baartman in both seasons of SA20 so is well-placed to sum up his new signing for Hampshire.

“I know him quite well because he’s played SA20 in my team there for the last two years. He’s also been a long time in South African domestic cricket and just been selected for the Proteas T20 World Cup squad ahead of Nandre Burger and Lungi Ngidi so he’s forced his way in through his performances, especially in the SA20. In the SA20 he was the second-highest wicket taker but he had the lowest runs per over so I think he’s a real talent and also a the top of his game right now."

Birrell also echoed Dawson’s sentiments about Baartman’s core strength.

"He's an out-and-out ‘death’ bowler so we’ll probably use him at the back-end of the powerplay and then at the back-end of the match. He’s sort of a quiet guy but he’s got a lot of energy and is a really down-to-earth guy. He doesn’t say a lot but he’s got a lot of energy in and around a group. He’s quite a good fielder and I think he’ll be good in the change room.

"He bowls yorkers and there’s nothing better than a stump cartwheeling so hopefully he can land his yorkers and help us win games at the back-end a bit like Nelly did in the last few years. He’s here for the last six games and hopefully the playoffs."