Derek Kenway was dropped three times on the way to his seventh first class ton, and admitted: "It was good to make them pay."

Kenway faced 205 balls and scored 14 fours for his second century against Derbyshire and his first at the Rose Bowl since June.

But he was dropped twice at first slip and once at gully and had only made nine when he was first put down.

He admitted: "It was not one of my more flunet hundreds. I was lucky to be dropped a couple of times but it was nice to make them pay, I haven't done that when I've been dropped in the past.

"It wasn't my best innings but it was important to grind it out and get the runs on the board and give Warney time to bowl them out"

Kenway added: "Things went well today, we started the day well by winning the toss. Losing Browny (Michael Brown) early on was a blow but I had a few good partnerships and it was very important for me to start the season well to get confidence going."

Hampshire are now in a good position to set Derbyshire a big total.

"Teams don't look forward to coming here so hopefully the rain will hold off, we can get towards 400 and put a lot of pressure on them, especially as we've already skittled sides that have come here," added Kenway.

Pitch liaison officer Mike Denness gave the thumbs up to the Rose Bowl wicket yesterday - and so did Kenway.

"The pitch played really well, it's important for us to get scores on the board," added the 25-year-old.