Carberry Career-Best Clinches CB40 Victory

A familiar image: Carberry lifts his bat for another century

Match report from the Hampshire Royals' Clydesdale Bank 40 match against the Scottish Saltires at The Ageas Bowl

Hampshire Royals v Scottish Saltires
Clydesdale Bank 40
Monday 4 June
The Ageas Bowl

Summary: Hampshire Royals beat Scottish Saltires by six wickets
Scottish Saltires: 230-9
Hampshire Royals: 234-4 (36.1 ovs)
Scorecard
Concurrent Table

Royals Team
Adams*, Carberry, Vince, Katich, Ervine, Dawson, Mascarenhas, Wood, Bates†, Griffiths, Briggs
Saltires Team
Davey, MacLeod, Symes, Berrington, Mommsen, Coleman, Haq, Wallace†, Iqbal, Drummond*, Parker

Michael Carberry hit a List A Career-Best 148 not out to gift his Hampshire Royals side a comfortable six-wicket Clydesdale Bank 40 win over the Scottish Saltires at The Ageas Bowl.

A dropped catch on 31 aside, the England International looked as unbeatable as he has been all season (his average in this competition stands at just shy of 150!) as his innings was the basis around which all others added accompaniment; Simon Katich (41) and Liam Dawson (27*) the most notable in support as the Royals chased down 230 inside 37 overs.

Earlier, Danny Briggs (3-35), Sean Ervine (2-23 off 6 overs) and Dimi Masacarenhas (2-32) had been both efficient and effective in limiting their opposition to a total that their batting line-up, given it’s performances thus far, never looked like struggling to catch.

The result means Hampshire stay in second place in Group B – only behind Surrey on net run-rate. The competition now takes a break for a month while the Friends Life t20 tournament takes centre stage, but before then, Hampshire travel to Kent for an LV= County Championship match at Tunbridge Wells starting on Wednesday.

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Having won the toss and elected to bat first, the Saltires’ total was built around Majid Haq’s run-a-ball 53 not out and Preston Mommsen’s solid 48. Their sixth wicket partnership of 80 in 13 overs gave Scotland’s bowlers something to defend.

But, at the top of the innings, Mascarenhas had bowled well, removing Calum MacLeod (12) and Richie Berrington (15) cheaply. David Griffiths, too, bowled impressively fast in his first spell, taking out opener Josh Davey for 24 and going for just 14 runs off his five over spell.

Alongside that, Hampshire worked well in the field and, in particular, Katich and James Vince took stunning catches. Michael Bates was involved with four dismissals; Ervine’s two wickets fell to his gloves, as did Chris Wood’s single scalp.

But Briggs [pictured below] was the pick of Hampshire’s bowlers, even getting himself on a hat-trick with two wickets off consecutive balls (Craig Wallace lbw for 7 and Moneeb Iqbal lbw for 0). He was bowling towards the end of the Saltire’s innings and holding up one end while Haq made made his runs from Hampshire’s seamers.

The performances of teammates, though, were completely overshadowed by the genius of Michael Carberry. 148 runs off 122 balls in a winning cause is a special performance, even more so when it is a career best. In just five Clydesdale Bank 40 innings this year Carberry has made 441 runs at an average of 147. Today was his day – they were his jubilee weekend fireworks and he deserved them.

Briggs-Blues-Ball-Scotland-AgeasBowl-LMI-1-410 The Royals’ reply, however, did not start well with two early wickets leaving them just 15 for 2. But almost immediately Carberry fought back, taking 10 runs off the next over including a four pulled around the corner and another cover driven exquisitely over the ropes. It showed Scotland that he meant business.

Supported first by Katich, with whom he put on a 106-run partnership to take the Royals to 121 for 3, and later by Dawson, who put on 103* with him, there is no doubt that Carberry won the match for his team. But disaster almost struck twice in the sixth over when, first, he edged Davey through MacLeod’s hands at slip on 27. This was no better than half a chance and the ball went for four, but very next delivery Symes well and truly dropped Hampshire’s most dangerous batsman only a fifth of the way through his eventual score.

After that, Carberry looked untouchable. He played guardedly off the spin of Majid Haq and kept out one particularly devilish ball which fizzed and bounced, by jamming his bat down on top of it. But there was a release of pressure when Davey returned and was hit for the first of three sixes, well into the stands, to bring up Hampshire’s 150 in the 27th over.

Carberry was on 89 and at this point his pace of scoring moved up a gear towards his 100th run, a leg side boundary off Saltires’ captain Gordon Drummond. Then the pace really increased and he scored a further 48 runs in just six overs and Hampshire reached their victory total with ease. Not just with ease, but with style, as the last ball was another sparkling six and Carberry left the field to a standing ovation from the Ageas Bowl crowd.