Ervine & Adams Delight As Hampshire Dominate On Day One

Sean Ervine (160) and Jimmy Adams (104*) each struck sensational centuries as Hampshire showed their strength on day one of their Specsavers County Championship fixture against Warwickshire at the The Ageas Bowl.

Both batsman batted magnificently to notch their first hundreds of the 2017 campaign, the duo also coming together to post a Hampshire fourth-wicket record 263-run partnership to take their side to 294-3 at stumps.

After electing to bat after winning the toss, Hampshire began the innings in difficult fashion with three wickets falling early in the opening session and the score 32-3.

Adams was soon joined at the crease by Ervine and the pair added 52 runs before lunch to even things up heading to the interval.

Ervine was the first to his half-century, reaching the milestone early in the afternoon session.

The left-hander accelerated nicely and soon reached his deserved century, all whilst steering the Hampshire total past 175 alongside Adams, without further loss.

Ervine was well-supported by the opener, with the pair complimenting each other's style of play nicely - Adams acummulating more steadily throughout the day.

The 36-year-old reached his first fifty of the season soon after seeing Ervine celebrate at the other end, that landmark also taking him past 13,000 total first-class runs.

With both batsman making it safely through to tea, the hosts had moved on to 192-3 and following the resumption, the pair continued to look untroubled.

The Hampshire 200 soon arrived, as did the duo's 200-run partnership, and with Warwickshire's bowlers tiring, it looked an ideal opportunity for the total to continue to grow.

The new ball was taken with 16 overs remaining in the day, but proved to be irrelevant in the evening session as Ervine and Adams continued without a scare.

Ervine passed 150 late in the evening session and also moved beyond 11,000 first-class runs in the process as the away-side toiled late in the day.

There was then just three overs remaining when Adams reached his resilient century - his first since September 2015, having scored three 90s across all formats last summer - with the opener raising his bat to a terrific roar from the The Ageas Bowl crowd.

Both batsman then reached the close without incident, the mammoth partnership set to resume when play gets back underway tomorrow.