Carberry Century Sees Royals to Three From Three

Carberry hit a century to guide Hampshire through a comfortable innings

Report from the Hampshire Royals' Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Somerset at Taunton

Somerset v Hampshire Royals
Clydesdale Bank 40
Sunday 27 May
Taunton

Summary: Hampshire Royals beat Somerset by nine wickets
Somerset: 212-9
Hampshire Royals: 216-1 (28.2 ovs)
Scorecard
Concurrent Table

Somerset Team
Gregory, Kieswetter, Compton, Trego, Hildreth*, Buttler, Barrow, Overton, Waller, Dockrell, Hussain
Royals Team
Adams, Dawson, Carberry, Vince, Katich, Ervine, Bates, Mascarenhas, Wood, Briggs, Griffiths

An excellent 100 partnership from Hampshire openers Jimmy Adams (56) and Michael Carberry (103*) completely knocked the stuffing out of Somerset as the visitors claimed a nine wicket thrashing in this Clydesdale Bank 40 match at Taunton.

Carberry's knock anchored the innings as, together with a good knock from James Vince (44*), the Royals chased down a target of 213 with more than 11 overs to spare.

Earlier, some fine bowling from Dimitri Mascarenhas (2-17) and David Griffiths (2-36) book-ended a Nick Compton (81) and Jos Buttler (71) partnership of 121 as the host's frantic innings ended nine-down.

The Royals, therefore, top Group B, remaining unbeaten with three wins out of three. They now have a few days off before taking on the Nottinghamshire Outlaws in a Sky-televised CB40 match at The Ageas Bowl on Thursday.

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Mascarenhas [pictured below] was making his first appearance for the Royals following a stint in the Indian Premier League. He replaced Kabir Ali in the XI, who had been the team’s leading competition bowler going into the match, so perhaps Dimi felt he had to justify his selection. And, with Adams having won the toss and elected to bowl first, he wasted no time doing so, producing carbon copy deliveries which nipped back to see off Craig Kieswetter (4) and Peter Trego (8), a pair of off-stumps both thrown back.

Combined with Chris Wood’s dismissal of James Hildreth (3), who top-edged high in the air to Liam Dawson at first slip, Somerset were 31-3 after the opening eight-over powerplay; the Royals firmly in control.

Mascarenhas was (apart from Simon Katich), by far and away, the most experienced player on the park, having played more than 250 List A matches in his career – over 100 matches more than any Somerset player. And that experience showed as, with little more than just fantastic line and length, not only was he collecting scalps, but was also keeping the scoring down. The hosts were only able to hit a single run each off four of Mascarenhas’ opening six overs, while the seventh was a maiden, the returning all-rounder ending with figures of 8-1-17-2.

But as Compton and Buttler became more circumspect, the wickets also became harder to come by and slowly the pair built a 50 partnership to put things on a more even keel by the half-way stage; Somerset 80-3 after 20 overs. That helped the hosts’ confidence and, with Buttler taking the lead while opener Compton supported, they both took their personal 50s either side of the 100 partnership; their side 131-3 in the 30th over.

Mascarenhas-Blues-Ball-2-410 Nevertheless, they had ridden their luck, running several twos that didn’t look like they were there. So it was no surprise that the partnership ended with a run-out as Dawson fired in a wicked direct-hit from mid-off to see off Buttler; Somerset 146-4. And from there the innings became a smash and grab with Somerset upping their run-rate considerably (with the help of a batting powerplay) but losing wickets at regular intervals – a further two to suicidal run-outs.

It ended in complete kamikaze fashion as four wickets fell for just three runs in the final nine balls; Griffiths the beneficiary.

Hampshire had made 220 in their only completed innings thus far in the competition so the target (which required a run-rate of just over 5.3) seemed definitely doable, if competitive. And, in stark contrast to what we had just seen, Royals openers Adams and Carberry calmly batted nearly the whole way through the opening 16 overs of powerplay (the eight compulsory, followed by both the bowling and batting plays) to make it look positively easy!

Indeed, the 100 was up in the 14th over (by which time, Somerset hadn’t even made their 50!) And even when Adams (who hit two of the three sixes scored in the match) played Craig Overton to Alex Barrow at mid-on, his replacement, Vince, instantly looked at home, sweeping consecutive boundaries off the same bowler within his first three balls.

Next over, Carberry pummelled four deliveries to the ropes to smash through the personal 50 barrier and, by this point, the match was all but won; Hampshire 130-1 in the 16th over and requiring only 83.

As the England international clipped one off his legs to bring up the 200 at the start of the 28th over, the only question was, with 13 left to get, whether Carberry (on 93*) would be able to get his ton before the game was won.

With only four needed, Vince generously settled for a single off a ball that could easily have ended up in the parking lot, leaving Carberry to send the next delivery straight into the pavilion where it so clearly wanted to go. He is now the leading run-scorer in the competition; Hampshire full of confidence going into a congested spell of CB40 matches over the Jubilee weekend.