MATCH TIED: HAMPSHIRE FINISHED ON 220-9 (50 OVERS) AFTER BEING SET 221 TO WIN

Toss: Hampshire

Hampshire clinched a thrilling tie against Somerset after a tense night under the Rose Bowl floodlights.

The Hawks looked set for a comfortable win before inexplicably losing five wickets for 24 runs in just six overs.

Michael Carberry had helped the Hawks to a solid start in his first appearance of the season.

He succeeded where fellow left-handed openers Marcus Trescothick and Justin Langer had failed for Somerset.

Carberry lost opening partner Chris Benham (23) in the 13th over when the youngster edged an attempted drive and was well caught high at first slip by Marcus Trescothick off Steffan Jones (59-1).

But Carberry continued to impress and reached his fifty from 58 balls (seven fours) by cover-driving the medium pace of Keith Parsons for three as Hampshire passed 100 in the 21st over.

Then the Hawks lost six wickets for 40 runs in seven overs in scenes reminiscent of their FP Trophy tie against Essex at Chelmsford three weeks ago, when they were shot out for just 75.

Having earlier given Somerset a total to bowl at with an electric 55, Ian Blackwell gave his county renewed hope with the ball.

Michael Lumb (23) holed out to long on, where he was caught by James Hildreth after putting on 49 with Carberry (108-2).

And Carberry (65 from 81 balls) himself became Blackwell's second victim when he clipped the slow left-armer to Langer at short mid-wicket (124-3).

With 20 overs left the Hawks seemed to be coasting, needing a further 96 runs with seven wickets remaining.

But then they lost John Crawley, Nic Pothas, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Shane Warne for seven runs in the space of 13 balls.

Crawley (13) was caught by Trescothick at slip after chasing a ball angled across his bows in left-arm seamer Charl Willoughby's first over back (141-4).

In the next over from Parsons, the 35th, Pothas (0) was caught at the wicket and Mascarenhas (0) was run out by a direct hit from Langer at mid-on after trying to scamper a quick single from the first ball he faced (144-6).

Then Warne (3) hit Willoughby straight to his former Australia teammate Langer at mid-off (148-7).

With ten overs left the Hawks were 173-7, needing another 48 for victory.

Shaun Udal had 25 to his name when he was dropped at long-on by Peter Trego off Andrew Caddick in the 45th over.

With five overs left, the Hawks needed 28 to win with Sean Ervine and Udal still at the crease.

Ervine eased the tension by crashing one of his three fours off the back foot as he and Udal put on 61 in 13 overs for the eighth wicket.

But with 12 runs needed from the last two overs, the partnership ended when Udal (31) hit a Caddick delivery straight to Langer at mid-on (209-8).

Caddick ensured a nervous last over from Jones began with the Hawks needing six runs, with Chris Tremlett at the crease with Ervine (46 from 54 balls).

Bowling from the Pavilion End, the Welshman increased the tension yet further when he sent Ervine's off stump cartwheeling with the third ball of the final over (217-9).

With Stuart Clark on strike, the Hawks needed two to win from the last ball.

The Australian (1*) scrambled a single to mid-wicket and he and Tremlett (3*) briefly considered what would have been a suicidal second, before settling for a tie of the scores and a point each.

Somerset bowling: Trego 4-0-29-0, Willoughby 9-1-33-2, Jones 8.4-1-34-2, Caddick 9-0-47-1, Blackwell 9-0-27-2,Parsons 10-0-40-1

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Hampshire had made early inroads with the ball after Warne, having won the toss for the first time this season in the FP Trophy, decided to field first.

Mascarenhas dismissed dangermen Trescothick and Langer as the Hawks made a dream start, before Somerset recovered to finish on 220-6.

In damp conditions ideal for Mascarenhas, the Hampshire beneficiary bowled the left-handed opening batsmen in his third and fifth overs.

After being handed the new ball he knocked back the off stump of Trescothick (1 from 13 balls) following a lack of foot movement from the former England man (11-1).

And then he beat Langer (13 from 30 balls) with a full-length delivery in the ninth over (27-2).

Bowling into the wind, Mascarenhas finished his ten-over allocation with the outstanding figures of 2-17 after Tremlett, having replaced Clark at the Pavilion End, uprooted the middle stump of Hildreth (8)with an off-cutter in his third over (49-3).

Udal had been recalled less than three weeks after being taken to hospital with an ankle injury during the dramatic championship win against Surrey at the Oval, and was introduced to the attack to bowl the 26th over.

But it was Warne who took the next wicket. Warne's fellow Victorian leg spinner Cameron White (45) was caught at the wicket by Pothas as he prodded forward to a leg break in the Hampshire captain's fourth over (98-4).

A leading edge to Tremlett at mid-on gave Clark the wicket of Keith Parsons (37) in the 41st over (150-5).

But the powerful Blackwell proved far more of a threat than his more illustrious left-handed teammates, Trescothick and Langer.

In reaching fifty from just 32 balls, he lofted Udal for a huge six over mid-on before he was caught and bowled by Sean Ervine after launching a skier to mid-wicket, where the Zimbabwean held on in the 46th over (181-6).

Peter Trego helped Somerset reach 220-6 by thrashing an unbeaten 27 (23 balls), which included an audacious chip to the fine-leg boundary against Tremlett.

Hampshire bowling: Mascarenhas 10-3-17-2, Clark 10-2-45-1, Tremlett 10-0-52-1, Ervine 5-0-22-1, Udal 7-0-32-0, Warne 8-0-48-1