Adams and Carberry post record stand

Hampshire 480 for 4 v Somerset 204
Scorecard

Jimmy Adams and Michael Carberry set a new Hampshire record with a second-wicket stand of 373 on the second day of the Championship match with Somerset at Taunton.

The partnership was already worth 123 at the start of the day and the pair batted through the morning and afternoon sessions before Carberry fell to the fourth ball after tea for 182. Adams went on to be undefeated on 204 at the close - the second double century of his career - and at 480 for 4 Hampshire had established a commanding first-innings lead of 276.

It was a day of toil for the Somerset bowlers in hot sunshine as their hopes of a first ever championship title were ground remorselessly into the dust. Adams and Carberry needed luck on their side in the morning session as the ball beat the bat on numerous occasions, Steve Kirby and Alfonso Thomas being particularly unfortunate.

But both batsmen reached their centuries before lunch, Carberry off 189 balls, with 20 fours, and Adams in the final over before the interval off 212 deliveries, with 16 boundaries. They needed no good fortune in an afternoon session, which saw Somerset take the second new ball with no positive effect. The frustrated home side wilted as Carberry and Adams scored at will and by tea the stand was worth 372.

That meant it had already comfortably passed Hampshire's previous best second-wicket partnership, the 321 put together by George Brown and Edward Barrett against Gloucestershire at Southampton in 1920.

Carberry finally fell to Kirby in the first over after tea, for 182, caught behind by Jos Buttler, back in Somerset's team after missing the opening day through England Twenty20 duty. The batsman had faced 313 balls and hit 33 fours and a six. Buttler's superb diving catch to dismiss Neil McKenzie soon afterwards was all the more praiseworthy for the fact that the young Somerset keeper had only arrived back from Old Trafford in the early hours of the morning.

James Vince soon followed and Hampshire missed out on a fifth batting point, reaching 395 for 4 at the end of the 110th over. Adams reached his double hundred with a top-edged six off Craig Meschede, having faced 388 balls and hit 29 fours.

Hampshire's acting-captain had good cause to feel weary after batting right through the day with immense application. Sean Ervine's rapid half-century off 60 balls rubbed salt into Somerset wounds.