Slipping

For yet another CC match, rain played a big part in the second day, where very little play was possible. Unfortunately Hampshire didn't quite have the same success this time around that they had against Durham when Tomlinson and Vince plundered boundaries between the thunderstorms. Instead what followed after 5 hours of delays was a horrific collapse that saw Hampshire only manage two batting points, a far cry from the 4 that were on offer. Ervine and Christian returned to the crease in effectively the evening session to continue from where they had left off the night before. Initially things went smoothly as the pair took Hampshire past the 250 mark. However a rash shot from Christian was followed by Bates being clean bowled and suddenly Hampshire were 7 down. Ervine reached 48 before falling to Thomas, the South African then removing Tomlinson first ball before Briggs saw off the hat trick ball. Next over however Cork was caught going for a big shot and Hampshire had succumbed to 284 all out. There was time for 7 overs of the Somerset innings, with Suppiah and Trescothick opening. Tomlinson atoned greatly for his first baller by taking a return catch off of Trescothick to at least save some face for Hampshire, and Somerset closed on 16-1.

Overall it was a thoroughly disappointing day. With so much time lost in the day to rain, it was a wonder that they managed to get so much play in the evening session, though Hampshire will be wishing that they didn't have to come out to bat for that last hour and a half. Plenty of starts in the side, Carberry's 71, Ervine's 48, Lumb's 42 etc but the frustrating thing was that no-one could turn that start into a big score, as was so admirably done at May's Bounty. The weather for the next two days is set fair, making a positive Hampshire result very unlikely indeed. What Cork and Tomlinson need to do first thing on the third day is find their length as quickly as possible. Somerset are prone to monstrous collapses, Biblical proportions even, so putting doubt into Suppiah's and nightwatchman Thomas' minds about a moving ball could be key to getting the others (and there are plenty of others in this Somerset side) early and cheaply. In the corresponding fixture there were centuries for both Hildreth (apparently an interest for Hampshire for the 2011 season) and Buttler (would have been a preferable interest). If a Somerset batsman gets a century tomorrow then Hampshrie will be in serious trouble. Briggs needs to squeeze the life out of the batsmen, just like Kartik did, so as to encourage them to play an uncalled for shot from the other end. If Somerset are allowed to build a lead, even just 30 runs or so, then it will be a very long two days, and Hampshire may well find themselves with more nails in the lid of the coffin. Not particularly the best outcome! Ideally I would like to see Hampshire skittle Somerset and then set about building a big enough lead, but that would be perhaps asking too much of the Hampshire bowlers and top batting order.