Adams Innings Earns Hants Hard-Fought Draw

Report from day four of Hampshire's LV= County Championship match against Kent at The Ageas Bowl

Hampshire v Kent
LV= County Championship
Day Four: Monday 30 July 2012
The Ageas Bowl

Summary: Match Drawn
Hampshire: 292 & 186-9
Kent: 467
Scorecard
Concurrent Table

Hampshire Team
Adams*, Vince, Shafayat, Katich, Dawson, Ervine, Bates†, Mascarenhas, Balcombe, Briggs, Tomlinson 
Kent Team
Key*, Northeast, Nash, Harmison, Powell, Stevens, Jones†, Tredwell, Coles, Davies, Shreck

A second top-score of the match from Hampshire captain, Jimmy Adams helped his side to an incredible draw against the odds on day four of this LV= County Championship match against Kent at The Ageas Bowl.

He batted out 91 overs to end 85 not out as the hosts strained to reach 175 to avoid an innings defeat, then held on for the draw with nine wickets down.

Special mention must also go to Danny Briggs (20*) who, as number 11 batsman, saw off more than 20 overs to stick with his skipper and earn seven points for his team - a collection that keeps them above their opponents in the table, even though Yorkshire's draw against Leicestershire at Grace Road moves the Ageas Bowl side down to third in Division Two.

Hampshire now enjoy a rare mid-season week off before travelling down to Bristol to take on Gloucestershire in the same competition next Monday.

There was some suspicion at the start of the day that Kent might have declared overnight; the thinking being that a lead, at that point, of 144 might have been enough with two innings - in theory, at least - left in the game. That never materialised, however, with the visitors clearly feeling that the best chance of victory was to give themselves as much of a barrier as possible before trying to bowl Hampshire out.

As it happened they managed to up their score by 29 runs in between David Balcombe taking an impressive diving catch at long off to give Liam Dawson (1-25) his first scalp and Sean Ervine finding an edge to see off Matt Coles (29) and James Tredwell (31) respectively in 4.4 overs (Ervine's [pictured below] wicket ensured he registered season-best figures of 4-96.)

But those additional runs quickly looked unnecessary when, as in the first innings, the hosts lost their first two wickets very quickly, leaving the two left-handers Adams and Simon Katich to re-build on 8-2.

This they had done to reasonable effect on Day One, putting on a 50 parternship in near-identical circumstances. Not so here as the Australian pushed forward to Charlie Shreck only to edge behind without scoring.

Surely, then, the major opening day duo of Adams and Dawson (who had put on 116 together) would come to the rescue? Again, the answer was no as, having picked up a hamstring injury (the severity of which was still to be assessed at the end of play) and returned after lunch with a runner, the all-rounder fell to Tredwell's first ball of spin; Hampshire 52-4 - their backs now firmly against the wall.

All thoughts of getting Kent to bat again had gone at this point with the hosts batting at just two an over - a rate that would have required seeing off the day's remaining 65 overs just to equal that target. No, this looked like it would be a test of the visiting attack's ability to try to gun down the Hampshire order in the time left.

A 50 partnership between Adams and Ervine (31) would hold them up but a muted celebration from the skipper upon bringing up his own 50 (145 balls, four fours) between two of his team-mates' wickets kept everyone very much focussed of the scale of the task facing the home side.

And that task got that much harder when, having gone into tea on 129-6 with a minimum of 29 overs remaining in the day, Mascarenhas (9) played Tredwell high into the air to deep mid-off only to be athletically caught by Davies.

With just one run added came two wickets in two balls for Coles, bringing final batsman Briggs to the crease with 31 still required to avoid the outright loss and the pair showed incredible determination (even seeing off the new ball) as well as patience (turning down runs to keep Adams on strike where possible) to take Hampshire into the lead.

With 186 on the board and 10 of the 11 fielders gathered round the bat, Briggs saw off the third-from-last over meaning, with a loss of two overs for a change-over, Kent had missed their chance to get back at the crease. Stumps was called and the home crowd celebrated as if their team had claimed the 16 points. In truth, the 16 points Briggs and Adams denied their opposition may prove more telling in the race for promotion come the middle of September.

Catch-Up:

Preview:	Dawson Looks to Build on 'Special Week' Against Kent
Day One:	Adams - Dawson Parternship Anchors Hampshire Innings
Day Two:	Late Wickets Rescue Difficult Day Two
Day Three:	Frustration in the Field as Rain Leaves Result in Jeopardy

Words: Simon Vincent
Images: NJM Photography

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