A man-of-the-match performance from Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has guided Hampshire to its opening victory in the Friends Life t20 tournament.

A man-of-the-match performance from Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has guided Hampshire to its opening victory in the Friends Life t20 tournament.

The explosive batsman cleared the rope on six occasions in his unbeaten innings of 66 (32), which was his maiden T20 half-century, after he had earlier claimed 2-10 with the ball.

In pursuit of Kent's 6-135, Hampshire was struggling at 4-59 when Maxwell entered the crease but after three sighters, he launched an incredible attack on the bowlers, carting 39 from his following 10 deliveries to single-handily take the game away from the Spitfires.

Despite batting at number six in all three matches so far, Maxwell, who also smashed 78 for his club side South Wilts mid-week, has struck 96 runs at a strike rate of 179, the second highest in the competition.

Another Bushranger to take the series by storm has been Victorian captain Cameron White.

After striking the sixth-most runs in the Indian Premier League, White is leading the current tournament with 171 runs, having been dismissed only once in five matches.

He top-scored for his side for the third time this series on Saturday when he hit an unbeaten 62 (42) against Worcestershire.

Since the start of the IPL, only Chris Gayle (735 runs at 56.54, strike rate 158.40) has hit more Twenty20 runs than White (646 runs at 53.83 at 143.56).

Elsewhere in the UK, Daniel Salpietro and Alex Keath both had disappointing matches for their club sides.

Salpietro could only muster six with the bat but followed up with 2-46 from 16 overs for Rishton in their 49-run victory over Bacup.

All-rounder Keath opened the batting and posted 17 (37) but went wicketless in his four overs in Bishops Stortford's 10-wicket loss to Potters Bar.

25 JUNE, 2012 Dylan Atkinson