Day One

A superb century from Michael Carberry (100) ensured Hampshire seized control on the opening day of their first-class friendly fixture against Cardiff MCCU at the Utilita Bowl.

Carberry struck the first hundred of the club's pre-season warm-up contests, recording an excellent three figures to help Hampshire total 289 on day one of the three-day match. A fiery spell late in the day from Fidel Edwards (2-10), as well as two wickets for debutant Asher Hart (2-13) then reduced the visitors to 59-6 at the close.

After winning the toss and electing to field first, Cardiff MCCU began brightly with wickets for David O'Sullivan (3-29) and Andrew Brewster (2-87) restricting Hampshire to 31-3 early in the morning session. However, a valuable 104-run partnership between Carberry and the impressive Sean Ervine (58) saw the hosts quickly rebuild, as the home-side moved to 184-3 after the lunch interval.

Both batsmen departed shortly after, but a solid knock from Liam Dawson (45) and some important runs from Ryan Stevenson (20) ensured Hampshire edged beyond 250 in the afternoon session, before the innings concluded.

The hosts then began impressively with the ball - the returning Edwards, bowling with pace and aggression on his way to claiming two early scalps. Hart, who was making his first-class debut for Hampshire, picked up his first and second wickets of the day in the evening session, whilst a wicket each for Dawson (1-4) and Brad Wheal (1-11) saw Hampshire assert themselves further, before the players departed the field for the close of play.

Play will resume at 11am on Monday. A reminder that entry to the Utilita Bowl is free for this fixture.

Day Two

An impressive innings from James Vince (90) and a valuable knock from Tom Alsop (62) saw Hampshire dominate day two of their first-class friendly fixture against Cardiff MCCU at the Utilita Bowl.

Vince looked in good touch on his way to a deserved half-century, with Alsop also timing the ball sweetly to help Hampshire total 271-6 in their second innings, after the side's bowling unit made quick work of Cardiff MCCU's lower order, dismissing them for just 98 earlier in the day. 

The visitors resumed day two on 59-6 and it wasn't long before Hampshire's bowlers made yet further in-roads as wickets for Asher Hart (3-17), Fidel Edwards (3-22) and Brad Wheal (3-32) saw the tail dismissed in the opening session.

The hosts then began their second-innings positively with Jimmy Adams (19) and Alsop taking Hampshire through to lunch unscathed at 47-0.

Whilst Adams departed following the interval, Alsop and Vince came together to build nicely with the former the first to reach his fifty, before a jaffa found his outside edge to see him depart.

However, Vince continued to rattle along - he regularly found the boundary with ease - bringing up his half-century with an exquisuite lofted drive over mid-on.

He'd taken his side to 229-4 before eventually falling just 10 short of what would have been a fine century, but a valuable innings from Lewis McManus (31) and an unbeaten 19* from Ryan Stevenson ensured Hampshire moved well beyond 250 in the evening session, closing the day with a lead of 462 heading into the final day.

Day Three

Bad light saw the final day of Hampshire's three-day friendly against Cardiff MCCU end prematurely, with the result confirmed as a draw following the afternoon session at the Utilita Bowl.

A wicket each for Sean Ervine (1-10) and Asher Hart (1-20) saw Cardiff MCCU reach 110-2, before bad light swept across the ground after the lunch interval to enforce an early tea break, with play then being abandoned for the remainder of the day shortly after.

After declaring overnight, Hampshire set Cardiff the near impossible task of chasing 462 runs to win, and whilst Cardiff were never aiming for victory - all of Hampshire's bowlers recording economical figures - the result of a draw was accellerated due to poor visibility preventing any further play.

Hampshire's next fixture sees them travel to Headingley to take on Yorkshire in the first Specsavers County Championship fixture of the season, beginning on Friday 7th April.