Rilee Rossouw bounced back from a blow on the helmet on his Lord’s debut as Hampshire stunned a 20,000 crowd cruising to a comfortable win at the home of cricket.

In pursuit of a modest Middlesex total of 136 all out, Hampshire cantered to victory courtesy of an excellent 60 with six fours and a six by Rossouw.

Hampered by the loss of Dawid Malan, Toby Roland-Jones and Steve Finn on England duty, injuries to Paul Stirling and James Fuller, coupled with the absence of overseas stars Brendon McCullum and Tim Southee, Middlesex underperformed in every department to crash to the fifth defeat of a disjointed qualifying campaign.

Hampshire were without Shahid Afridi (back) and left out Liam Dawson but their run chase started briskly when James Vince pulled the fifth ball of their reply from former Hampshire left-armer Tom Barber for six into the Mound Stand.

Rossouw took an early blow on the helmet when being rushed by the extreme pace of a Barber bouncer, but he quickly recovered to pull Harry Podmore for another Mound Stand maximum.

Three balls later, Vince danced down the pitch to lash another six over long-off off the same bowler.

Helm hit back by brushing Vince’s off bail out of its slot with a slower ball that sent Hampshire’s skipper packing for 20 but, having taken good advantage of the powerplay fielding restrictions, the visitors were already well ahead of the chase on 56 for one after six overs.

With the field scattered, Tom Alsop (10) risked a second run to Ryan Higgins in the deep to be run out by a yard, then, with 79 on the board, George Bailey (3) also departed to a run out after jogging a risky single to Stevie Eskinazi at square leg.

With only 14 needed Rossouw departed by top-edging an attempted paddle to long leg, but his innings had ensured Hampshire’s comfortable win.

Middlesex could only muster 42 by the end of the powerplay before targeting Mason Crane.

The hosts had 65 on the board when debutant Ian Holland marked his debut with a wicket with his fourth ball when Simpson (16) pulled a short one straight to Bailey at long leg.

Crane settled down in his second over to peg back Eskinazi’s off stump.

After reaching 22 England captain Eoin Morgan dragged slower ball from Wood onto his stumps.

Gareth Berg returned to bamboozle James Franklin (5) with a slower ball and Rossouw ran out Adam Voges from backward point before Wood snaffled an incredible one-handed overhead catch at extra cover to see off Ryan Higgins (7).

Kyle Abbott (3-26) was excellent against his former Middlesex teammates before his fellow Kolpak secured a much-needed win.

“To score runs here at Lord’s is something that I’ve dreamt about since I was a little boy starting out playing cricket," said Rossouw.

“It surpassed my expectations. It’s been a slow season for me but I was just glad to get the boys over the line.

"I’ve changed my mindset in the last two weeks, I’ve decided to play good cricket shots instead of trying to hoick everything out of the ground.

“That’s going to continue.”

MIDDLESEX
SS Eskinazi b Crane 43 (27)
NRT Gubbins c Vince b Wood 4 (8)
JA Simpson c Bailey b Holland 16 (13)
EJG Morgan b Wood 22 (14)
AC Voges run out (Rossouw) 14 (15)
JEC Franklin c Alsop b Berg 5 (7)
RF Higgins c Wood b Abbott 7 (10)
HW Podmore b Abbott 6 (12)
NA Sowter c Vince b Abbott 9 (7)
TG Helm not out 0 (0)
TE Barber b Berg 0 (2)
Extras 10 (w 6, lb 4)
TOTAL 136 all out (19.1 overs)
     BOWLING: GK Berg 3.1-0-20-2, 4-0-26-2, KJ Abbott 4-0-26-3, MS Crane 4-0-27-1, IG Holland 4-0-33-1
     Fall of wickets:1-24 (NRT Gubbins, 3.2 ov), 2-65 (JA Simpson, 7.4 ov), 3-71 (SS Eskinazi, 8.4 ov), 4-95 (EJG Morgan, 11.4 ov), 5-108 (JEC Franklin, 13.4 ov), 6-114 (AC Voges, 14.3 ov), 7-120 (RF Higgins, 16.1 ov), 8-135 (NA Sowter, 18.4 ov), 9-135 (HW Podmore, 18.5 ov), 10-136 (TE Barber, 19.1 ov)

HAMPSHIRE
JM Vince b Helm 20 (13)
RR Rossouw c Podmore b Barber 60 (47)
TP Alsop run out (Higgins) 10 (8)
GJ Bailey run out (Eskinazi) 3 (9)
SM Ervine not out 23 (20)
LD McManus not out 6 (9)
Extras 15 (w 6, nb 2, lb 7)
TOTAL 137-4 (17.3 overs)
     Did not bat: IG Holland, GK Berg, CP Wood, KJ Abbott, MS Crane
     BOWLING: TE Barber    4-0-32-1, TG Helm 4-0-30-1, HW Podmore 2.3-0-22-0, JEC Franklin1-0-9-0, RF Higgins 3-0-20-0, NA Sowter 3-0-17-0        
     Fall of wickets:1-42 (JM Vince, 4.2 ov), 2-58 (TP Alsop, 6.1 ov), 3-79 (GJ Bailey, 9.6 ov), 4-123 (RR Rossouw, 14.2 ov)