DAY ONE: Hampshire 116-2 (39 overs)

Hampshire’s batsmen faced one of the quickest spells of their careers when Shoaib Akhtar made his Surrey debut at the Brit Oval.

Shoaib’s arrival at rock-bottom Surrey is a desperate last throw of the dice as the Brown Caps attempt to finish the season with the two wins they need to have any chance of staying in the LV County Championship’s first division.

The controversial Pakistani is playing his first competitive match since the Indian Premier League in April so was restricted to two fiery four-over spells in his first first-class outing for seven months.

That was still enough for him to display the pace and hostility that made him one of the most feared bowlers in the world at his peak.

After a wayward start, the 33-year-old took the second wicket to fall - Michael Carberry (31) edged a defensive push behind - in his second spell before rain ensured an early finish to the opening day of both sides’ penultimate Championship match of the season.

Hampshire will resume tomorrow on 116-2, almost certainly against a refreshed Shoaib Akhtar, who began the match by sprinting in from near the boundary rope but with his radar awry after Surrey had made the unusual decision to field first after winning the toss.

Shoaib only beat the bat once during his lively opening salvo (4-0-16-0) from the Vauxhall End but was more accurate and more rapid after returning at the Pavilion End after lunch.

Hampshire captain Dimi Mascarenhas said: “Shoaib let a few go real quick and the majority of it was quicker as anything we faced this year and quite a bit quicker than Shane Bond was for us.

“The guys that batted said he was comfortably quicker than Fred [Flintoff], [Steve] Harmison and Saj Mahmood, who have all bowled quick against us this year.

“That’s as quick as it gets but it gave us another challenge and we played him well.”

Brown (16) had done well to help see off Shoaib before another injury-plagued fast bowler – former England quick Alex Tudor – bowled the Hampshire opener via his bottom edge with his second delivery after replacing Jade Dernbach at the Pavilion End.

Hampshire’s leading run scorer hit an unbeaten hundred on his last visit to The Oval and replaced Jimmy Adams after missing the last two matches with a back injury before departing in the 14th over.

There was no place for John Crawley, who was also available for selection after recovering from a back injury.

Michael Lumb (29*) continued his fine form at number three in the absence of the former England batsman and helped Chris Benham put on 56 in 15 overs for the third wicket after Carberry was out in the second over of Shoaib’s second spell.

Three of Carberry’s five fours were leg glances against Shoaib but the Pakistani sensed more victims after taking his first wicket.

His second spell (4-1-7-1) was far more impressive than his first, but Chris Benham survived and then crunched three confident boundaries in his high-tempo 28 not out.

Lumb (29*) also looked in very good touch and drove left-arm quick Pedro Collins for three imperious fours – through cover, extra cover and straight back down the ground - as he and Benham laid the foundation for what Hampshire hope will be a sizeable total.