Mitchell ton lights up rainy draw

Worcestershire captain Daryl Mitchell lit up the final day at the Ageas Bowl with a superb century before his side settled for an expected draw with Hampshire.

Mitchell notched the first ton of the new Division Two season with a magnificent 172 not out at the top of the order, helping his side pick up four batting bonus points before declaring on 350 for 7.

That gave the visitors a first-innings lead of 87 over Hampshire but with less than a session to go in a match badly hit by the weather, a draw was always the most likely outcome.

Worcestershire did make an early breakthrough to briefly make things interesting, Mitchell again involved as he caught England's Ashes opener Michael Carberry for 6 off Moeen Ali.

But that was as good as it got for Mitchell's men as home skipper Jimmy Adams and Liam Dawson ensured Hampshire suffered no further setbacks as they reached 27 for 1 off 17 overs, at which point the two teams shook hands on a draw.

Worcestershire, who finished four points behind fourth-placed Hampshire in Division Two last season, take 12 points from the match while the hosts take nine.

A winner always looked unlikely with rain washing out all but 8.5 overs on the opening two days in Southampton, but Mitchell made the most of the time available to record his 15th first-class century.

Starting the final day on 44 in a total of 103 for 1, Mitchell progressed his second-wicket stand with Moeen to 153 before the England batsman fell for 69, bowled by Dawson.

Slow left-armer Dawson also accounted for teenage newcomer Tom Kohler-Cadmore - the 2013 Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year falling for 2 on his first-class debut - as Worcestershire reached lunch on 213 for 3, with Mitchell unbeaten on 99. But he did not let the break affect him and he was soon celebrating three figures.

Hampshire continued to make regular breakthroughs at the other end, Matt Coles finishing with figures of 3 for 58 off 28 overs, but Mitchell remained unbowed as he helped Worcestershire reach 350.

He struck 23 fours in his 306-ball knock before calling time on his side's innings having contributed almost half their total.

There were not enough overs left to seriously push for the win, but there was time for Carberry to suffer his second failure of the match as he followed his first-innings duck with just 6 before being snared by a combination of Moeen and man of the moment Mitchell.