BASINGSTOKE

(day one of four; Durham won toss)

Hampshire, with four first innings wickets in hand, are 91 runs behind Durham

Tea

Durham's partial recovery to 156 all out, before an early tea was taken with 35 overs still left, gave their own seamers something to work with, thanks mainly to Smith and to some robust blows by Callum Thorp, who has often excelled against Hampshire.

Mascarenhas took two more wickets soon after lunch, a sharp caught and bowled and a fifth wicket earned when Liam Plunkett hit across a length ball before some counter attacking by smith and Thorp finally persuaded him to take his sweater after 23 overs unchanged from the Bounty Road End.

The precious value of a decent leg spinner was emphasised as soon as Imran Tahir got the ball. Two missed drives at nicely flighted leg-breaks followed by a top edged pull to end Smith's fine innings unworthily took Tahir to 28 wickets in five innings for Hampshire.

Close

Durham ended the first day still very much in contention thanks to a fine, incisive spell of seam bowling by Mark Davies, whose career record makes his exclusion from any representative cricket a continuing mystery.

Michael Carberry and Jimmy Adams managed to reach 48, not without difficulty, against the new ball but as soon as Davies started bowling from the Castle Field End, the ball was either fizzing past the edge or thudding into the pads. Five wickets fell to him for 24 runs, the last two a bonus after a stoppage for bad light. Paul Wiseman also had Sean Ervine caught at first slip with a big off break and in all Hampshire lost four wickets without adding a run, a disastrous finish to a day that had started so well for them.