Depleted Leicestershire made to struggle by in-form Mullally

Paceman Alan Mullally prolonged his sizzling vein of form with another five wicket haul today for Hampshire on the opening day of the County Championship clash with Leicestershire at Southampton.

The left armer claimed the wickets of Darren Maddy (8) and Ben Smith (5) in his first spell of the day to have the visitors at a shaky 28/2 before returning later in the afternoon to remove Vince Wells (22), Dominic Williamson (4) and Neil Burns (0) as Leicestershire battled to a stumps score of 265/9 after losing the toss.

Following his fourteen wicket haul against Derbyshire last week, Mullally (5/84) was always likely to be the man to whom Hampshire looked for inspiration in the absence of Shane Warne. To that end, he did not let his team down. He bowled with control in helpfully overcast conditions, seaming the ball both ways and maintaining an excellent line to keep the injury-hit Leicestershire batting line-up under consistent pressure. Dimitri Mascarenhas (2/59) also performed well, snaring the vital wickets of Aftab Habib (61) - dismissed with the very first ball after the players had returned to the field after a rain delay in mid-afternoon - and Darren Stevens (12).

Leicestershire, which had entered the match with Chris Lewis, James Ormond, Phil DeFreitas and Anil Kumble all missing from its line-up, meanwhile relied largely on three players for its end of day position. Habib's combination of resolute defence against straight deliveries and strong driving of anything loose earned him the honour of being the top scorer for his team for far from the first time this season.

Jonathan Dakin (60) also showed his usual fluency before being dismissed in the second last over of the day, while opener Iain Sutcliffe (53) helped to hold things steady at the top after the two early wickets had fallen at the other end. In assembling his first half century of the summer, Sutcliffe formed a half of the best partnership of the innings - one of ninety-two with Habib for the third wicket.

Dakin was also involved in a crucial partnership, finding unlikely support in the form of number ten Carl Crowe (26*) to raise a priceless seventy-one runs for the ninth wicket just when Mullally seemed ready to work his way right through the bottom half of a batting list again.