Exhausting day in the field for Worcestershire
Nick Gubbins and Liam Dawson collected their third Vitality County Championship century of the season as Hampshire piled on the runs during the opening day of their clash with Worcestershire.
Left-handed batter Gubbins demonstrated immense control in his 153 to pass his highest score for Hampshire – after arriving from Middlesex in 2021.
He put on 129 with half-century maker James Vince and Liam Dawson – who also passed 10,000 first-class runs.
Hampshire are mathematically still in the title race – starting the round 27 points adrift of Surrey – and ended the day on 373 for four.
Tom Taylor and Amar Virdi took two wickets each for Pears.
Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson said: “It was a long one and one which Hampshire will be pleased with – they batted very well and put some strong partnerships together.
“From us it wasn’t the skillsets that were required, I thought we were a bit sloppy which has made it a long day at the office.
“The wicket looks pretty good but there was certainly enough in it for the bowlers – we didn’t put it in the right areas for long enough.
“Dawson’s in some good form and never looked in much trouble at all. That partnership with Gubbins – who I thought batted very well – has put us under quite a bit of pressure.
“I spoke about Liam before the game. He is a busy cricketer who knows his game really well and today he showed off his strengths.
“It is up to the bowlers and the fielders in the morning to take and create as many opportunities as we can. One thing we do know about this group of players is they are resilient and they won’t be too downbeat.”
