Hants Attack Toil In the Worcester Rain

Worcestershire lead Hampshire by 250 runs at the end of day one of their LV= County Championship match at New Road.

Worcestershire v Hampshire
LV= County Championship
Day One: Saturday 18 June
New Road

Summary: Worcestershire lead Hampshire by 250 runs
with six wickets remaining in their first innings
Worcestershire: 250-4

Hampshire
Adams, Dawson, Lumb, McKenzie, Vince, Pothas⁺, Mascharenhas, Cork*, Ali, Tomlinson, Tahir

Worcestershire
Pardoe, Mitchell, Solanki, Moeen Ali, Kervezee, Shakib Al Hasan, Andrew, Scott, Whelan, Richardson, Shantry

The weather and Worcestershire’s Vikram Solanki were the scourge of the Hampshire attack on day one of this LV= County Championship match at New Road.

The batsman finished the day unbeaten on 99 as his side made 250 for the loss of just four wickets on a day often restricted by rain.

On the plus side, Dimi Mascarenhas took his first County Championship wickets since September 2009, finishing the day with figures of 2-49 off his 19 overs.

But having left the field of play on no fewer than five occasions due to conditions, Dominic Cork’s men struggled to maintain any rhythm and will now go into day two looking for a lively start to redress the balance.

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It was the home side that won the toss and chose to put their opponents in the field.

Rain delayed the start of play by 30 minutes but, once on, Worcestershire wasted no time in setting out their stall. They enjoyed the better of the first session as Hampshire worked to find their range following an unbeaten start in the very different discipline of T20.

Former captain, Mascarenhas gave the visitors what joy there was to be had, taking his first wicket in County Championship action since September 2009 when he trapped Worcestershire opener Matthew Pardoe (11).

And following another hour-long delay to the start of the second session, the hosts continued to dominate as Daryl Mitchell reached his first half century this season in all forms of cricket, passing the 100 mark for his side in the process. Lacking in sympathy, the weather Gods decided to rain on his parade – literally – with the rest of the session being wiped out due to more downpours not long afterwards.

Hampshire, therefore, knew it was vital they started session three much more brightly. And they did exactly that as Imran Tahir became the second Hants player to collect his first County Championship wicket this season, dismissing Mitchell for 60.

Another rain break followed shortly after but not before Mascarenhas struck again as he had the dangerous Moeen Ali caught behind for just 1 - the visitors fighting back after tea to leave Worcestershire 143-3.

Solanki, however dug deep to frustrate the Hampshire bowlers as he moved past 70, helping Worcestershire past the 200 mark on the way.

He finished the day one short of a resilient landmark as the wicket of Alexei Kervezee for 55 (caught by James Vince off the bowling of Liam Dawson) brought about stumps. He, therefore, is likely to claim the first bragging rights of the day tomorrow, but let’s hope the rest of the day belongs to Hampshire.

Words: Ryan Day
Images: Andrew Thomas 

Catch Up:

Coverage:
Live text commentary is available for this match. Visit Hampshire Cricket’s Facebook and Twitter pages for all the major incidents as they happen.

Day Two Weather Forecast:
Bright with the chance of some cloud.

Tickets:
Tickets are still available for this match and available to purchase on the gate.

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