Carberry Records Superb Century On Opening Day Against Cardiff MCCU

A superb century from Michael Carberry (100) ensured Hampshire seized control on the opening day of their first-class friendly fixture against Cardiff MCCU at the The Ageas Bowl.

Carberry struck the first hundred of the club's pre-season warm-up contests, recording an excellent three figures to help Hampshire total 289 on day one of the three-day match. A fiery spell late in the day from Fidel Edwards (2-10), as well as two wickets for debutant Asher Hart (2-13) then reduced the visitors to 59-6 at the close.

After winning the toss and electing to field first, Cardiff MCCU began brightly with wickets for David O'Sullivan (3-29) and Andrew Brewster (2-87) restricting Hampshire to 31-3 early in the morning session. However, a valuable 104-run partnership between Carberry and the impressive Sean Ervine (58) saw the hosts quickly rebuild, as the home-side moved to 184-3 after the lunch interval.

Both batsmen departed shortly after, but a solid knock from Liam Dawson (45) and some important runs from Ryan Stevenson (20) ensured Hampshire edged beyond 250 in the afternoon session, before the innings concluded.

The hosts then began impressively with the ball - the returning Edwards, bowling with pace and aggression on his way to claiming two early scalps. Hart, who was making his first-class debut for Hampshire, picked up his first and second wickets of the day in the evening session, whilst a wicket each for Dawson (1-4) and Brad Wheal (1-11) saw Hampshire assert themselves further, before the players departed the field for the close of play.

Play will resume at 11am on Monday. A reminder that entry to the The Ageas Bowl is free for this fixture.