Drawing in the rain

Despite the best efforts of both sides, the Hampshire-Durham match at May's Bounty unfortunately ended in a draw as half a day of rain meant that anything but a completely contrived result was out of the window. Having ended day 3 on 41-2, a lead of 142 in the second innings, Hampshire looked to be positive in the hope that the forecast rain would keep away and a declaration could be made. This was made all the more possible by the injury to Durham's most effective bowler, Callum Thorp, during the 3rd day evening session. Carberry was joined at the crease by fellow run machine Michael Lumb for the start of play and the pair went about their usual business, as if it was the first day again. Carberry started the day on 22 and quickly took another liking to Harmison's perhaps lacklustre bowling as boundaries came in plentiful amounts. Lumb too looked circumspect early on but kept the scoreboard workers on their toes by blasting four sixes in his 50, Carberry also reaching 50 but from 102 balls. The pair brought up the hundred partnership and went into lunch on 150-2. After reaching his 50, Carberry stepped up the pace considerably, and reached his century from 164 balls, moving from 50 to 100 in just 62 balls. Lumb fell for 64 to Blackwell with the score on 191, meaning the pair had put on 150 for the fourth wicket. Amazingly whilst batting together, Lumb and Carberry managed to put on 464 runs in this match. Carberry also lost his wicket to Blackwell, stumped for 107, his second century of the match and his fifth of the season, as rain approached the ground. Blackwell also removed Vince for a duck but a few minutes later the covers were on and the match was called a draw not long after.

It is disappointing that a result could not be forced from the game, for both sides, though the two captains should be congratulated for not letting the game die after all but 11 overs of the second day were lost. Mustard's third day declaration was particularly bold, as he sacrificed batting points in the hope of getting a win. As it was it was not to be for either side, and the rain ruled the match. Terrible news came out of Southend though, as Warwickshire beat Essex in a very low scoring game to drag themselves back into the relegation fight. A few positives though were that neither side picked up a single batting point (155 and 150 were the first innings scores), whilst the defeat also stopped Essex from pulling away, and they have played 2 or 3 more games than Hampshire. Thankfully there have been no reports of injuries from the Basingstoke game from a Hampshire perspective, meaning we will probably go into the Somerset match at Taunton on Monday with the same XI. Inbetween that we have a 40 over match at home to Durham, and Jones and DC have been added to the match day squad. Christian's inclusion could suggest a number of things. Either that Cork will take a quick break, given that a four day match takes place the next day, or that we will look to bolster the batting by bringing Christian in for Riazuddin, batting him at 7 and moving Bates and Cork down one. A third possibility is that Christian may come in as a like-for-like Slug replacement, giving the Zimbabwean a day's rest before the Somerset match. Either way it should be a good match, better than the corresponding fixture, as Hampshire look to continue their limited overs renaissance in time for Finals Day.