Hampshire 142 and 119 (Gubbins 45*, Middleton 44*) for 1 path Lancashire 374 (Salt 103, Mitchell 68, Organ 6-67) by 113 runs
Right here I am going out to sea once more
The sunshine fills my hair
And desires dangle within the air
Thus the opening strains of Black’s 1987 tune “Great Life”, whose melody it was tempting to hum throughout this high quality day’s cricket at Southport, the place Felix Organ’s bowling and a few grit-and-grind batting within the night have given Hampshire an opportunity of avoiding defeat. The spectators made the day memorable, too; certainly they had been an integral a part of the occasion as they stood ten deep in entrance of the Late Reduce Bar, consuming for England, speaking typewriters and inflicting no hassle. Different people ringed this sacred discipline to look at Phil Salt make a century and if these two thousand or so souls couldn’t relate too carefully to the paranormal components within the late Colin Vearncombe’s good lyrics, they certainly agreed with its overarching sentiment.
The climate helped issues alongside, too. The solar pierced all however the thickest bed room curtains at seven o’clock and it braised the primary spectators as they arrange their base camp on the Harrod Drive Finish two hours later. One was reminded that in one in every of his state visits to the UK the Shah of Persia discovered himself seated subsequent to a woman from Edinburgh. “Inform me, Sire,” she started, “they are saying you worship the solar in your nation.” “So would you, madam, in the event you had ever seen it,” got here the reply. It is debatable whether or not that story is testomony to Dunedinian gloom or the fierceness of the Persian summer season however both approach, there was no doubting the dominance of the solar at Trafalgar Street.
It shone on Salt and Josh Bohannon as they whippeted between the wickets of their stand of 74, calling one another sharply and responding with an instinctive appreciation of the potential. It powered down on Salt a minute earlier than midday when an inside-edged 4 off his pad took him to his maiden century for Lancashire and his first in red-ball cricket since Could 2019. Then it bestowed the warmest blessing on Organ when the offspinner eliminated Salt, Dane Vilas and Rob Jones earlier than lunch and cleaned up Lancashire’s tail to complete with a career-best 6 for 67 in…
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