Hampshire v Nottinghamshire, day one: Hampshire (119/3) trail Nottinghamshire (185) by 66 runs with 7 wickets remaining.
Ben Duckett striding to the crease at 10.58am, elevated from his longtime berth as Nottinghamshire’s number three.
Haseeb Hameed finding the fence from the very first delivery of the 2023 season.
No fewer than thirteen wickets falling on a day when Notts’ newest paceman Olly Stone claimed his maiden scalp for his adopted county.
From the first moment to the last, the opening day of the Green and Golds’ trip to Hampshire was cricket on fast-forward – and the hosts edged proceedings on a dramatic day one.
Having made 185 in their first innings, Notts made inroads into the Hampshire line-up in an initially sun-drenched evening session – none more crucial than the removal of captain James Vince, courtesy of a Lyndon James jaffa.
That was the thirteenth scalp of a day which began with the opening duo of Hameed and Duckett in proactive mood, Duckett signalling his intent with two carbon-copy straight drives in the fifth over.
But in an encounter featuring more than its fair share of high-class seamers, danger was never far away; Notts’ top three would all be removed by Pakistan international Mohammad Abbas.
Duckett (24), Hameed (16) and Slater (11) would all fall to the Pakistan international, with James (5) and Steven Mullaney (4) departing before the contest was 30 overs old.
Joe Clarke and Tom Moores’ 37-run stand stemmed the tide somewhat – Clarke’s timing impeccable in defence, and his footwork in fine fettle as he waltzed down the wicket to find the fence off Abbas.
James Fuller removed Clarke three runs short of his half-century, leaving Moores to assume the senior role in the company of Liam Patterson-White (4), Olly Stone (17) and Luke Fletcher (0).
Moores was ultimately left stranded on 49 as Dane Paterson was run out without scoring – the wicketkeeper’s bludgeoned drive off Ian Holland the pick of his innings.
In reply, Nottinghamshire’s cartel were almost immediately in the game, Felix Organ (1) squared up by Stone and fending into the clutches of a diving Duckett at second slip.
Duckett stayed low in the cordon to pouch Gubbins (10) off Fletcher, before James’ decisive intervention curtailed a 36-run stand between Vince and Hampshire debutant Fletcha Middleton, who would go on to chalk up a maiden County Championship fifty before the rain closed in.
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