NOTTINGHAM, England, CMC – Fidel Edwards’s four-wicket haul proved key as Hampshire did well to restrict Nottinghamshire on the opening day of their Division One County Championship match here yesterday.
Opting to bat first at Trent Bridge, Notts managed to get up to 302 in their first innings before reducing Hants to 70 for three at the close – still ahead by 232 runs heading into day two.
Former Test all-rounder Samit Patel top-scored with an enterprising 73 off 92 balls with 12 fours while veteran Riki Wessels chipped in with 54 and New Zealand Test batsman Ross Taylor, 47.
Edwards, the ex-West Indies speedster, helped trigger an early slide, however, picking up two wickets as Notts stumbled to 27 for three in the day’s seventh over.
Patel and Taylor then came together to repair the damage in a 95-run fourth wicket stand before Patel added a further 54 for the fifth wicket with Wessels.
Edwards returned to prise out Patel, caught at deep square hooking and came back at the end to strike again as Notts lost their last four wickets for 37 runs.
In reply, Hampshire slumped to 23 for three with Test seamer Stuart Broad striking twice but South Africa batting stars Hashim Amla (27 not out) and Rilee Roussouw (24 not out) resisted in a 47-run, unbroken fourth wicket stand.
