Katich Hits Bulls-Eye with 180

Katich is on 180 not out overnight

Report from day one of Hampshire's LV= County Championship match against Yorkshire at Headingley Carnegie

YORKshire v Hampshire
LV= County Championship
Day One: Wednesday 16 May 2012
Headingley Carnegie

Summary: Hampshire lead Yorkshire by 352 runs
with five wickets remaining in the first innings
Hampshire: 352-5
Scorecard

Hampshire Team
Adams*, Dawson, Carberry, Katich, Vince, Ervine, Bates+, Wood, Ali, Tomlinson, Balcombe
Yorkshire Team
Lyth, Root, Jacques, Gale*, Ballance, McGrath, Brophy+, Rashid, Wardlaw, Sidebottom, Patterson

A masterful innings from one-time Yorkshire player, Simon Katich (180*) was his old team’s undoing as Hampshire made an impressive 352-5 in their first innings on day one of this LV= County Championship match at Headingley Carnegie.

Coming to the crease with the score on 6 for 2, the Australian chose exactly the right time to make his Hampshire-best score, putting on two partnerships of 120+ with team-mates Sean Ervine (44) and Michael Bates (88*) to take the game away from the hosts.

Indeed, the Australian took particular enjoyment facing old White Rose county team-mate Anthony McGrath, off whom he scored the highest percentage of his runs at an incredible strike rate of 137.03.

With partner, Bates, also having had the confidence boost of registering a Championship best score, both batsmen will resume tomorrow morning looking to mount as big a total as possible.

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Electing to bat first, having won the toss, was beginning to look like a strange decision when both Hampshire openers were out inside the first six overs. But captain Jimmy Adams had clearly seen something the rest of us hadn’t and Katich – the man from whom he had recently regained the captaincy following a spell out – was the man to prove his skipper right.

Initially alongside Michael Carberry, who was on his return to the side following a successful display of 32 and 72 not out with the England Lions, Katich was fluent from the off, reaching his 50 before lunch. Unfortunately, by that time the former Australian Test opener had lost both Carberry (15) and James Vince (11) – both edging drives behind them; Hampshire 92-4 and still with an innings that could go either way.

And so, it was left up to Katich and a still yet-to-score Ervine to stabilise, and though they certainly did that it would be wrong to suggest that they were playing negative cricket. Indeed, Katich raced to his century in one-day style (a 15th four of the innings off Adil Rashid over mid-wicket bringing up the landmark) and with one-day speed (off an incredible 99 balls).

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That was the overseas’ first ton for Hampshire since May 2005, when he scored 128 against Kent at Canterbury. And it would get even better as he reached that score again, putting on a stand of 124 with Ervine before the Zimbabwean departed, skying Joe Root to mid on, Hampshire 207-5.

In all, the pair, with some assistance from Bates, had made 139 runs in the afternoon session and the batsmen would only dip slightly from that speed, making 121 from the next.

45 minutes after the restart, both Katich and Bates would reach a landmark within quick succession the former bringing up his 150 off 188 balls (19 fours) while Bates made 50 from 82 balls (nine fours). That beat the Australian’s previous Hampshire best of 143 not out – also made against Yorkshire at Scarborough in 2003 (how they must love him!).

And Bates also scented blood, just pipping his previous Championship-best score of 87 (recorded against Gloucestershire at The Ageas Bowl during the first game of the season) by the close of play; his partnership with Katich currently stands at 145*.

One question mark remains going into day two and that’s over whether England all-rounder Tim Bresnan will play in his country’s first Test of the summer against the West Indies at Lord’s. If not, he’s eligible to return for his county and, it’s understood, will substitute in for Iain Wardlaw (1-77*). The way Hampshire’s innings is going so far, the Tykes may need a bit of the extra quality that the man locals call “Bressy lad” brings.