Hain believes Hampshire 100 is proudest one so far

Sam Hain believes his 111* against Hampshire to help salvage an heroic draw is his 'proudest century for Warwickshire'.

Batting for seven minutes shy of six hours, Hain faced 254 balls (12 fours, two sixes) with different partners to restrict a Hampshire looking to push home their final-day advantage.

And at 123/6 and 313/9, there seemed an inevitability that the visitors would eventually dig deep against a Bears side who were looking to bat the whole 96 overs.

But Hain, once again, stepped up and dug deeper. Fending off 195 dot balls, the right-hander struck his 18th First Class ton, before closing out the job with his good pal, and number ten, Olly Hannon-Dalby.

“I know it was a draw, but from a personal point of view, it’s probably my proudest 100 for Warwickshire,” said Hain. “I probably didn’t have the return I was hoping for when I came back to red ball cricket.

“I set high expectations and have high standards for myself every time I go out to the crease. Every time you go out at a time like that you’re just trying to occupy the crease for as long as possible. You know what you’re coming up against, a high-quality Hampshire attack, but as I’ve said I’m pretty proud of that one.

“I have good memories against Hampshire, it’s always a good game. Today was really cool and I don’t know how to reflect on it, but we’ve got a couple of days before we go to Somerset for another tough match.”

Hain’s partnership with Michael Burgess was the big needle mover, as the pair added 183 from 329 to thwart and tire an experienced attack.

But the wickets of Burgess, Chris Woakes and Craig Miles got the heart rate rising and a dramatic finish ensued.

With OHD coming to the crease with five overs to go, the game once again swung in the south coast outfit’s favour, but the last man in, showed his calm nature to defend 11 of the final 30 balls.

“We said ball by ball a lot and you’re just trying to get into the rhythm and flow of batting,” added Hain on his partnership with Burgess. “From my point of view, I rode my luck a little bit at times, but that’s what you need on a day like that.

“It gave me a bit of energy as Dizz (OHD) and I have batted together a few times and he’s cool, calm and collected. We had a game plan of what we wanted to do and we trusted it as well. It’s high pressure out there, one team wants to win and the other is trying to get over the line, and although it was a short knock he played brilliantly as well.”