Tykes tumble as rivals win chase

HAMPSHIRE edged Yorkshire in an opening week Specsavers County Championship thriller as they chased down 320 to win at Headingley inside three days.

A number of useful contributions, led by Jimmy Adams’ dogged 72, gave James Vince and Co a 19-point haul as they bounced back from early strife in this match having conceded a first-innings lead of 132.

Vince hit 44, Michael Carberry 41 and South African Rilee Rossouw an important 47 deep into the chase as he stifled a spirited Yorkshire response, winning by four wickets inside the first over of the day’s extra half hour.

Two dropped catches early in the day allowed Hampshire to get their chase off to a healthy start, with both openers handed a life.

Adams, on 11, edged Tim Bresnan to Adam Lyth, who should have held on at second slip, before Carberry gave diving Peter Handscomb a much tougher chance in the gully off Ben Coad on six.

The two chances came with Hampshire still in the teens runs wise, but they advanced to lunch at 103 for one.

Adams and Carberry shared 91 inside 32 overs for the first wicket in improving batting conditions.

Carberry pulled Steve Patterson for a sizeable six in front of square into the Western Terrace before falling to Coad, caught at long-leg off a top-edged pull.

Left-handed Adams immediately found another ally in captain James Vince, with the pair sharing 69 for the second wicket in 21 overs either side of lunch.

Adams reached his fifty off 95 balls late in the morning, but he was the first of three afternoon wickets to fall to give the hosts a much-needed boost.

Coad had earlier struck it remove Carberry with the first ball of his second spell of the day, and off-spinner Azeem Rafiq did likewise when, in the 53rd over, he trapped Adams lbw to leave the score at 160 for two.

Vince followed nine overs later when he tamely chipped an ankle high return catch to Coad, who had taken six wickets in the first innings and now had eight for the match – 176-3 in the 62nd.

And that was the first of two wickets to fall late in the afternoon, with Bresnan getting Sean Ervine caught behind cutting as the score slipped to 195 for four in the 67th, the afternoon’s penultimate over.

At that stage, Hampshire needed 125 more to win. They dug in after tea, with Rossouw and Liam Dawson (37) scoring only 20 in the first 10 overs, before the new ball gave them impetus.

The pair hit four fours in a row off Bresnan and Coad at the end of the 81st over and the start of the 82nd, taking the score to 244-4.

However, their partnership of 57 inside 19 overs was broken when Bresnan had the South African caught behind as the score fell to 252 for five in the 85th.

That became 263 for six in the 89th when Bresnan took a brilliant one-handed return catch to remove Dawson, but Lewis McManus and Gareth Berg guided their side home with an unbroken 58 for the seventh wicket.

McManus finished with 30 not out and Berg, who won it with a straight six off Coad, unbeaten on 33.