Day Four
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Ben Brown demonstrated his captaincy suitability by batting the entire day to save his Hampshire side from a Rothesay County Championship defeat to Worcestershire.
Brown, who took over the leadership from James Vince over the winter, scored 109 not out, but it was the 331 minutes he batted that were crucial to securing a draw.
Hampshire had been completely outplayed for the opening three days, but with Brown, Tilak Varma and Liam Dawson’s half-century brought respectability back to the hosts – who took nine points from the match.
Bottom placed Worcestershire toiled all day but could only take one wicket; the 16 points they claimed could provide the foundations of an escape from relegation trouble.
The equation was simple for both teams at 11:00 BST, Hampshire had to bat the day, Worcestershire needed seven more wickets.
One physical thing had changed; the weather. Instead of mercury popping temperatures and blue skies, Utilita Bowl was crowned by grey overheads and shining floodlights.
A mental switch had flicked as well with Hampshire’s batters after four sessions of collapsing to a position where an innings defeat looked the most likely result.
Brown had a steely determination not to return to the pavilion, other than for lunch and tea, while Varma had appeared unmovable in the first innings until he was run out.
Worcestershire’s disciplined bowling showed little change, but finally the hosts battened down on a pitch flatter than ever and a Kookaburra ball still limp.
They came in with gusto all day, particularly Durham loanee Callum Parkinson – who has now bowled 717 deliveries at Utilita Bowl this season.
The spinner found the odd ball to turn but not quickly or regularly enough to cause true problems.
He was rewarded with the wicket of Indian Varma, who fell for 47 after 143 balls and 167 minutes when he poked to short leg.
Brown didn’t care. He was well on the way to his slowest ever half-century, coming in 162 deliveries, and had now found Dawson for company – one of the most reliable fighters on the county cricket circuit.
A second new ball didn’t change much as Brown and Dawson simply batted. They occasionally went through spells where scoring looked freer, but never chased the runs.
Ethan Brookes even tried a famed bail switch to change Worcestershire’s luck but the only thing it managed was Brown edging, but Ben Allison dropping with his face at first slip after the ball deviated off Gareth Roderick’s glove.
Brown rolled to his second hundred of the season in 257 balls, Dawson passed fifty in 135 deliveries as the game felt safer and safer.
At 17:00 BST, Jake Libby decided the game was up and the idea of taking six more wickets were improbable to shake hands on the draw.
Dawson had lasted 191 minutes, but paled in insignificance to Brown’s five and a half hours.
Day Three
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Tom Taylor led an exemplary Worcestershire bowling performance as Hampshire wilted in the sun to head towards an innings defeat in the Rothesay County Championship.
Fast bowler Taylor belied a flat wicket, a Kookaburra ball, and searing heat to claim four for 42 in 19 tireless overs.
Adam Finch and Worcestershire debutant Callum Parkinson also snared two wickets each to bowl Hampshire out for 221, a colossal 458-run deficit in reply to 679.
Following on, Finch and Parkinson then took centre stage to crash through the Hampshire top three again as the home side stuttered to 86 for three at close, still 372 runs behind.
Worcestershire had begun their bowling charge after tea on day two, having declared, and with the knowledge that three wickets every session for the rest of the match would take them to victory.
They managed it that evening, with a constant barrage at the stumps resulting in three wickets.
That tactic of forcing the batters to play almost incessantly due to line and length – plus the odd bouncer to keep them honest – continued in the morning.
Ben Brown lasted less than half an hour as a Taylor delivery in the channel drew a prod and a catch for Henry Nicholls at second slip.
Two balls later and Taylor discovered the outside of Liam Dawson’s bat but only carried to first slip on the half volley.
Dawson took an opposite approach to his team-mates – who had tried, and failed, to bat for the long haul a la Jake Libby earlier in the match.
He punched through the covers with gusto to score 27 in 29, but missed a straight one from Finch before the ball cannoned into his pads, and walked before the umpire’s finger had been raised.
At 112 for five, Hampshire were in serious trouble, but Talik Varma had grittily defended and scored at a strike rate which almost constantly began with a two.
The Indian, who scored a century on debut at Essex last week, look assured at the crease and took to the challenge of occupation manfully.
He had now been joined by Tom Prest, who after an uncertain start found his footing against an ageing ball, but still militantly accurate bowling attack. The pair put on 80.
Varma had foreshadowed his demise throughout his innings, with overeager attempts at quick singles. Having reached a 160-ball half-century, he punted to Libby at mid off, took on the arm and lost.
It started a 14-over cortege where Hampshire lost five wickets for 29 runs, and Worcestershire got ahead of the three-wicket-a-session rule.
James Fuller chipped straight to short extra cover first ball. Prest took on a pull shot, despite a clear trap, but only tickled behind down the legside. Kyle Abbott was castled by a booming Taylor in ducker. Scott Currie was lbw to Parkinson.
The wickets almost all came due to smart field placements to prevent any runs and bowlers executing the plans perfectly.
Simply, Worcestershire had comfortably out-batted and then out-bowled Hampshire, which was reflected in the 458 first innings deficit, and the fact the visitors had bowled more maidens in half the overs.
On a flat pitch, Hampshire failed to score a single batting point.
The hosts now had to bat out four sessions to avoid a calamitous defeat, with Worcestershire’s bowlers still boasting a high charge.
Ali Orr and Fletcha Middleton paired intent with solidity and looked untroubled for 16 overs, but Finch’s introduction ended both of their time at the crease.
Finch’s extra pace initially found Middleton dropped at leg slip but two overs later Orr pushed back to take a single and stepped on his own stumps, before a leading edge looped off Middleton’s bat to cover.
Nick Gubbins was bowled by a Parkinson beauty – who took a lap in celebration – and despite being dropped fourth ball, Brown survived the day with Varma.
Day Two
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Jake Libby achieved his second career Rothesay County Championship double century as Worcestershire compiled the third-highest first-class score in their history.
Stand-in captain Libby batted throughout a 10-hour vigil to secure a personal best 228, while underpinning his side’s vast 679 for seven declared.
His double century was paired with Adam Hose’s on day one – making it the first time two Worcestershire batters had passed 200 in an innings, while Gareth Roderick’s 80 kept him company for much of day two.
The declaration at tea left Hampshire 32 overs until close, and during the evening managed to lose their top three on a lifeless pitch to end the day on 68 for three – an ominous 611 in arrears.
Libby is built for long innings.
He has a sound defence, enough shot-making to avoid building pressure on himself, and the mental fortitude to become unmovable.
Aged 21, he scored a double ton in Nottinghamshire’s Second XI. On Championship debut, Libby scored a 247-ball century. In 2021, he batted for 681 minutes – two minutes shy of the longest Championship innings – to save a match against Essex.
This innings shouldn’t have come as a shock to anyone, especially when it became clear before lunch on day one that the Hampshire bowlers were in for a torturous time with the pitch and Kookaburra ball.
While Hose scored with abandon, Libby frustrated and accumulated. The pair put on 395 with their contrasting style until Hose’s departure late on the opening day.
Nightwatcher Adam Finch and Ethan Brookes fell in the morning session but Hampshire only managed to pick up one bowling point, with Worcestershire counting the maximum five batting points to reverse their batting woes this season.
Finch edged the three-wicket James Fuller behind, while Brookes left a straight one from Kyle Abbott.
But Libby persisted, passing 150 with his sole six – towering Liam Dawson straight down the ground – and found Roderick a similarly stubborn partner.
Roderick had barely scraped 250 runs together in 16 previous innings this season, but given the perfect batting conditions, upped the price on his wicket.
It wasn’t pretty viewing in the roasting south coast sun, but it kept the scoreboard slowly ticking and the Hampshire bowlers, eight of whom were used in total, toiling.
Roderick’s second fifty of the season came in 114 balls, but it was overshadowed by Libby raising his bat on 200 after 399 deliveries.
Roderick top-edged a sweep to fall for 80 and Matthew Waite was carelessly run out before Tom Taylor added 51 with Libby.
With a new ball ready after tea, Libby decided to put Hampshire’s bowlers out of their misery by concluding his and Worcestershire’s innings, having cleared his previous high of 215.
The 679 was the highest Worcestershire score away from Visit Worcestershire New Road and the highest total by a visiting team to Utilita Bowl – only the 714 Hampshire dropped on Notts in 2005 stands above it.
Hampshire’s response was not wholly unsurprising after 160 overs of draining fielding in mercury rising temperatures.
Middleton and Orr had already been given lives when chances were shelled in the slips, but didn’t cash in.
Middleton never looked comfortable before a hooping in-swinging from Taylor hit his pads in front, while Orr seemed to find rhythm until turning Finch to leg slip.
Nick Gubbins followed to give Taylor a second leg-before wicket but Tilak Varma and Ben Brown remained for the last 40 balls of the day.
Day One
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Adam Hose made 266 - the highest ever score by a visiting player at Utilita Bowl - as Worcestershire racked up the runs on a scorching first day..
Top-order batter Hose played for Hampshire at Under 13 and Under 17 levels, having been born and raised on the Isle of Wight, but never progressed into the professional ranks.
He returned with an epic second career Rothesay County Championship hundred during a mammoth 395-run third-wicket stand with stand-in captain Jake Libby.
Libby knocked up 137 unbeaten runs of his own on a lifeless wicket with a joyless Kookaburra ball as Worcestershire ended day one on 456 for three.
Worcestershire have not had a good time batting this season.
They came into the match with the fewest amount of batting bonus points (three), had only passed 300 on three previous occasions – two of which in their second innings – and only two centuries had been made by their batters.
They also came into this match on the back of a shellacking by Surrey at Visit Worcestershire New Road last week.
By the end of the day, they had four more batting points, two more centuries, and well over 100 runs more than they had managed in two innings against the defending champions.
Libby, once again leading in place of the injured Brett D'Oliveira, couldn’t wait to choose to strap his pads on having won the toss.
Despite some morning overheads, the air was warm, the pitch looked flat, and the Kookaburra ball was expected to offer next to no assistance to the bowlers.
All that proved correct – and the number of centuries would be doubled by 19:00 BST – but not until Hampshire had a little glint of optimism.
New Zealander Henry Nicholls was tested outside his off-stump throughout his runless 12-ball cameo, before chasing a wide James Fuller delivery to edge behind.
Kashif Ali was punchy in his 44 off 38 balls, and particularly tucked into Scott Currie, before he was lbw stumbling over a straight delivery from Fuller.
At 60 for two, things felt even, but from then, and for the next five and a half hours, it was anything but.
The sunbathing crowd – including a gathering of past Hampshire players including Barry Richards and oldest living Hampshire cricketer Dennis Baldry – had just Libby’s stoicism and Hose’s perpetual run scoring to watch.
Once Hose found his rhythm, he bypassed each one of Hampshire’s plans with gusto.
A short-pitch effort, saw pulls and hooks to the boundary. A defensive idea with an umbrella field saw punchy drives down the ground. Everything Hampshire’s beleaguered bowlers tried resulted in runs for Hose.
Other than an incredibly tricky short leg chance on 69, he raced through the milestones. 50 in 74 balls, 100 in 126, 150 in 178, 200 in 208 and 250 in 240.
The more runs he got, the harder and further he hit the ball – one of his seven sixes causing injury to a spectator some 10 rows back at long on.
Hose was eventually dismissed on 266 - scuffing the ball to gully to give debutant Dom Kelly his first Championship wicket - in the penultimate over of the day.
His score surpassed the 243 scored by Phil Jaques for Yorkshire on this ground in 2004, and sat just one run behind Zak Crawley's marathon for England and John Crawley and Michael Carberry’s triple-centuries in scores by anyone at the Bowl.
Hose did play one first-team match for Hampshire, a non-first-class three-day game against Cardiff MCCU - ironically, one of his opponents in that fixture was Libby.
With him on this occasion, runs flowed like a tap.
Libby isn’t one for showy shots, at his best he occupies the crease – he has the second longest County Championship innings by minutes to his name to demonstrate his stickability.
He offered the Hampshire bowlers even less hope than Hose, scoring at his own pace to reach his second ton of the campaign in 219 deliveries.