Date-stamped : 15 Jun97 - 10:17 Rich harvest for Rose and Caddick By D J Rutnagur at Basingstoke First day of four: Somerset (79-6) trail Hampshire (204) by 125 runs THE fall of 16 wickets on the opening day is normally enough for Harry Brind to be summoned to the scene, but it is unlikely that um- pires Allan Jones and Tony Clarkson will require the in- spector of pitches to visit May`s Bounty, where only five Hampshire batsmen and three of Somerset`s reached double figures. A distant view gave the impression of the pitch being quite dry, but Graham Rose and Andrew Caddick, who took five wickets between them, justified Peter Bowler`s decision to put Hampshire in. Obviously, there was damp underneath and, with clouds hovering overhead, the air, too, was moist. The pitch was helpful to bowlers, no doubt, but it was by no means evil. The ball both swung and moved off the seam and, in fact, the harvest would have begun earlier had Kevin Shine and Andre van Troost, who operated the new ball, had their radar better adjust- ed. One of the few well-directed balls that the Dutchman deliv- ered, a swinging full toss, did win a major success, however. It ended Matthew Hayden`s run of big scores - 593 runs in five in- nings, two of them unbeaten. But on either side of an interruption for rain, Jason Laney, who made 40, was given the freedom to hit eight fours with all manner of strokes - drives, square cuts and clips off the legs, mainly off Shine. Somerset should be grateful that there was no pressure on them from the England committee to rest Caddick. No sooner had Rose claimed Laney lbw than Caddick had Kevan James brilliantly caught at slip. Robin Smith looked secure while he made 17 and fell in an un- fortunate manner. He was bowled off pad and a further deflection from his right elbow and Hampshire were reduced to 92 for five. After a brief rally, John Stephenson received probably the most devastating ball of the day, from Shine. It left him as he shaped to play to leg and bent back his off stump. Adrian Aymes batted so stubbornly that Bowler had to call on Mushtaq Ahmed`s wrist spin for the 49th over. It was he who prised out Aymes, whose attempted pull was defeated by a ball that hurried through. Hampshire, 162 for eight when Aymes was out, achieved re- spectability thanks to an adventurous but sensible innings of 27 by James Bovill and a stand of 41 for the last wicket with a steadfast Simon Renshaw. While they resisted, the conditions seemed easier. Indeed, they may have been, but Somerset were soon in disarray, to some extent due to indifferent batting. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Hampshire kept in check by Rose By D J Rutnagur at Basingstoke Second day of four: Hants (204 & 189) lead Somerset (159) by 234 runs UNLIKE the cloudy damp first day, when the ball veered about un- ceasingly, the sun shone and palpably blunted the bowlers` edge. But their domination of this contest was only marginally dimin- ished - 14 wickets to Thursday`s 16. Only four batsmen impressed their authority and just two pros- pered, Piran Holloway who, having batted 201 minutes and made a well- crafted 73 before he ran out of partners in Somerset`s first innings, and Matthew Hayden, who preyed on anything loose or overpitched to score 63, with 11 fours and a six, in Hamp- shire`s second innings. Thanks to Hayden and his opening partnership of 73 with Jason Laney, who got himself out after settling in well enough to bat with freedom, Hampshire showed promise of building up a winning score. It did not materialise, however. Their innings was wrecked by Graham Rose, who took his first five-wicket haul of the season, and Kevin Shine, a former Hampshire player, who took three wick- ets in 16 balls during a testing post-tea spell. Somerset still need to make the biggest score of the match to win. Their target of 235 is not daunting but, with the pitch be- com- ing slower, they will have to bat with discipline to achieve it. Holloway, unbeaten with 47 overnight, had only one staunch al- ly among his remaining partners and that was Andrew Caddick, who drove five handsome fours and a six to score 38 off 39 balls while he and the well-organised Holloway added 57 for the ninth wicket. When Hampshire batted again, Hayden was aggressive, but dis- creet. He made batting look a comfortable occupation and Laney was as much at ease until he played across the line at Rose and was leg be- fore. Kevan James got out to a loose shot at Rose and once Hayden was caught at slip off Parsons, the decline started. Robin Smith looked in poor touch, but fought grimly. However, he was very tentative against Mushtaq and was inevitably claimed by the leg-spinner - lbw without offering a stroke. Only token resistance was offered by Will Kendall and John Stephenson - who has not made a championship score larger than 31 this season - and Adrian Aymes as Rose and Shine worked steadily at demol- ishing the lower half of the order. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) James takes high marks By Neil Hallam at Basingstoke Third day of four: Hampshire (204 & 189) beat Somerset (159 & 225) by 9 runs SOMERSET captain Peter Bowler proved all too shrewd a tipster as Kevan James` career-best bowling figures, eight for 49, plunged Som- erset to a nine-run defeat at Mays Bounty. Bowler predicted in the morning that James would be "the hard- est bowler for us to handle on this pitch" and so it proved as the veteran left-arm seamer forced Somerset from 175 for three to 225 all out. A spell of five for 16 in 34 balls gave James match figures of 13 for 94 - another best - and gave Hampshire a second consecutive championship success in a game they had seemed to be losing while Piran Holloway supervised progress towards a target of 235. Bowler, however, had insisted: "That will take some getting on this surface. "It`s not doing anything extreme and there`s no pace in it but it`s tailor-made for someone like Jamesy, who keeps it up there and comes at you from a different angle." How prophetic that judgment proved as James put the skids un- der one end while Holloway threatened to win it at the other with more than four and a half hours of disciplined restraint and diligent acquisition. "We need somebody to get dug in and stick there for a long in- nings to have a chance," said Bowler. Bowler was free to offer this view after perishing early, bowled off bat and pad, and Holloway certainly looked like being Somer- set`s match-winner as he provided the vital adhesive in a stand of 112 in 28 overs with the more assertive Keith Parsons. James had pinned Mark Lathwell half forward and slanted one through Richard Harden`s guard but Holloway abandoned restraint only once to hit Shaun Udal for six over mid-wicket and Parsons picked off the loose stuff to make 74 off 91 balls. Parsons` mistimed on-drive against James ended the partnership and when Robert Turner cut Udal straight into the gully, Hamp- shire`s body language offered evidence of mounting belief. Graham Rose fell forcing straight to deep mid-off, Andre Van Troost was stumped lunging recklessly at his first ball and the jit- ters were plain to see as Mushtaq Ahmed was caught off bat and pad and Andrew Caddick miscued with a fierce blow and had a soaring catch well-held at mid-on. It was now all down to Holloway, but James was not to be re- sisted, again finding the right angle to have the left-hander caught behind the wicket. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)