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Glos contain Hampshire on day one at The Ageas Bowl

5 May 2022

Gloucestershire fought back from 225/2 to 310/8 on day one of their LV= Insurance County Championship Division One match against Hampshire at The Ageas Bowl.

Mohammad Amir was the pick of the bowlers for Glos with with three for 51 off his 21 overs bowled.

Felix Organ got Hampshire off to a flyer with his second career County Championship century before the hosts were stunted by Gloucestershire's bowling attack. In opening for Hampshire, Organ made the most of his top-order elevation with a simple, chanceless 107, while putting on 161 with James Vince – who scored an uncomplicated 78.

He was dropped straight into it when Vince decided to bat on a good-looking wicket, and had further pressure placed on his shoulders when Holland was caught behind by a gentle away swinger from Ryan Higgins in the third over. Nick Gubbins, on the back of twin tons last week, added 61 with Organ before he was given an ankle bruiser by Amir.

Organ, born in Sydney, Australia but moved to the UK when young, appeared unfussed and unmovable with a strong defence thwarting Higgins and Amir’s accurate bowling. He and Vince were able to free their arms more against the change bowlers; both adroitly picking the right moments to defend soundly and attack hard.

The afternoon session was particularly brutal for Gloucestershire, with eight players missing through injury, although their wicketless session was not helped when Vince edged a catchable chance between first and second slip when on 25. Otherwise runs flowed freely, fifties were negotiated and a first bonus point was awarded.

Organ’s century arrived with a dab to third in 212 balls and was accompanied by a long primal scream and a double fist-pump from the middle and a stand ovation from both his dressing room and the stands.

Gloucestershire pulled the day back in the evening with Vince and Organ’s wickets in quick succession with the old ball – the former pinned by Amir and the latter caught top-edging former Hampshire team-mate Ajeet Singh Dale to deep fine leg - before Ben Brown nicked the new ball behind.

Aneurin Donald made his stirring return to first-team cricket 962 days since his last innings having recovered twice from ACL injuries. He dabbed his third into the leg-side for a warmly received single but chipped to cover three balls later. Barker and Liam Dawson settled things to add a further 37 before the former edged Miles Hammond's spin behind and James Fuller was bowled to end the day.

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