Shane Warne needed just 17 balls to take his first wicket as Hampshire captain as the county's season got off to a flier at the Rose Bowl, writes Simon Walter.

Warne took 2-27 and THREE catches at second slip as Hampshire bowled Durham out for 128.

And then Australian boy wonder Michael Clarke, Hampshire's other overseas star, smashed an unbeaten, run-a-ball 73 to put his new team in charge at 195-5 - a lead of 67.

Warne was unavailable for comment at stumps but first team manager Paul Terry said: "We're certainly going forward as a team, there's no doubt about that.

"We would have batted first if we had won the toss so we were delighted to bowl them out for 128 and we played some really entertaining cricket.

"There's a little bit in it for the bowlers but all of the bowlers did well. They showed that it's not just about Shane Warne."

Terry added: "I thought it would take a while for Michael Clarke to get used to the conditions, so it was encouraging to see him show what he can do. I thought he was fantastic

"But he was allowed to play like that because of the hard work that had been put in at the top of the order by Derek Kenway and Michael Brown

"Unfortunately, we lost two quick wickets. We would have preferred to have more than five wickets in hand at the end and there's still a lot of work to do if we're going to establish a good lead."