County Championship: Adams gives Hampshire chance of draw

Adams (right) and Carberry have both struggled to put three figures on the scoreboard this summer

LV= County Championship Division One, Taunton (day three, close)
Hampshire 240 & 258-1: Adams 117no, Vince 69no, Carberry 56
Somerset 630-9 dec: Trescothick 153, Abell 131, Cooper 118; Dawson 5-139
Hampshire trail by 132 runs with nine wickets remaining
Hampshire 2 pts, Somerset 8 pts
Match scorecard

Opener Jimmy Adams hit his first century of the season to give Hampshire a good chance of avoiding defeat against relegation rivals Somerset.

They faced a 390-run deficit after the home side declared on 630-9, despite spinner Liam Dawson's 5-139.

Michael Carberry helped Adams add 143 for the first wicket, but was lbw to Jack Leach for 56.

Adams was 117 not out at the close, with James Vince unbeaten on 69 and Hampshire on 258-1, still 132 behind.

After handing the captaincy over to Vince earlier this season to concentrate on his batting, reaching three figures was a significant moment for Adams, who was dropped at first slip by Jim Allenby on 94.

Having begun the game next to bottom of the Division One table and five points behind their opponents, and then conceding another six in first-innings bonus points at Taunton, losing the game would leave them in a precarious position.

At stumps, the partnership between captains past and present was worth 115, with Somerset's attack unable to repeat their first-innings penetration.

Adams batted for five hours and 10 minutes and faced 245 deliveries, hitting 16 fours, while Vince was the more fluent with 11 boundaries in his fifth half-century of the summer.