APART from one extraordinary over in which Andrew Caddick was slogged for 27, this was a day of attritional cricket as grey as the leaden skies that prevailed.

Somerset won their first game this season against county opposition, and Hampshire realistically can forget about qualification for the quarter-finals. Their top order let them down with an undistinguished display, although batting was far from easy early on.

Robin Smith, somewhat surprisingly, decided to bat first on a used pitch, no doubt because he did not want his side to have to contend with Mushtaq Ahmed in the second innings. But as the day wore on, conditions appeared to ease.

Both sides lost a wicket to the second ball of their innings, but there the similarities ended. Hampshire never escaped the stranglehold exerted by Graham Rose, whose excellent opening spell of 8-2-10-2 earned him the Gold Award. Come the 18th over, the visitors were struggling at 39 for three, whereas Somerset at the same stage had eased to 64 for one.

Smith's departure to a Mushtaq googly proved crucial, for Hampshire never recovered. Trying to sweep the Pakistani from outside off stump, he did not get his front pad far enough over and was bowled off stump.

Mushtaq and Adrian Pierson got considerable grip and turn on a damp pitch, and proved difficult propositions. Pierson's contribution after being left out of the side on Monday was a considerable one, for he was tight and took two valuable wickets. Matthew Keech was bowled through the gate driving at a big off-break and Dimitri Mascarenhas, who had timed the ball well on a slow pitch, was athletically taken low at midwicket by Marcus Trescothick.

Trescothick's respectable seam-up was also effective on a surface where basic line and length was all that was needed to hinder scoring. Nixon McLean, the bowler, did not seem to appreciate, that but his batting gave a shivering crowd something to savour.

McLean, who, so the story goes, forced himself to bat left-handed in his home street in St Vincent so that he could hit to leg without breaking windows, delighted in Taunton's short, straight boundaries. After Kevan James had taken a single off the first ball of Caddick's last over, he hit the next five balls for 4, 6, 4, 6, 6 - all in the 'V' and none of them such bad deliveries.

Somerset's pursuit went smoothly after Michael Burns' immediate departure. Wickets only fell when the game appeared won as John Stephenson was the sole Hampshire bowler who managed consistently to locate the right areas. Richard Harden and Peter Bowler both played with good sense and skill, as later did Keith Parsons.

For Hampshire, Adrian Aymes showed why many think he is the best 'keeper standing up to medium pacers. His performance yesterday was quite outstanding.